The Cyborg Children
by mika zero-zero twenty-one
Summary: COMPLETE! Julia Link, Celeste Shimamura, Florence Heinrich, Angelina Junior, Liana Changku, Sophia Britain and Rene Meraga are seven girls who are worlds apart and are very alike at the same time. None have ever met after 15 years...
1. The Phone Call

I have decided to start a new story! This will tie all the little one-shots together and we'll have a gay old time!

-Summary-

Fifteen years ago, Black Ghost was defeated. Fifteen years ago, the cyborgs and Dr. Gilmore went their separate ways. Soon after, 009 and 003 got married. Eventually, all the cyborgs except 001 got married. After a while, the couples had children. These children were never known by one another; but they knew about "Aunt Francoise" and "Uncle Jet". You get the idea. 001, or Ivan Whiskey, ventured from family to family. He had grown up to a fifteen-year old boy. Dr. Gilmore was helping keep the secret of the cyborg children. He was known as "Grandpa Issac" to the children. Fate one day brought the Shimamura family together with the other families. By this time, Black Ghost had seen all the children and wanted to finish the job he hadn't finished fifteen years ago. All of the children were either in their early teens or late childhood. Still unknown to all, these children had been destined to meet and finish Black Ghost once and for all.

So with that in mind, I present to you...

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter One: The Phone Call

-&-&-&-&-

"Sophia, get the phone!" Britain called to his daughter. She was a girl of fourteen with blond hair and blue-black eyes.

"Hello, you've reached the Britain residence," Sophia said into the phone. Her voice had a hint of a British accent in it. "Dad, it's for you."

Great Britain took the phone as his daughter handed to him. Sophia sat on the back of the couch to watch.

"Hello?" GB asked into the speaker. There was a long pause. "No way...fifteen years ago...Joe did you in...we all watched him...it's impossible!" Another pause. "Fifteen whole years! Amanda!"

Sophia's mother walked in. She took the phone out of her husband's shaking hands. "Yes?" Sophia's eyes had grown wide. "No...he told me it wasn't possible. Never. You're dead, fifteen years dead. There is no way that you could come back."

"Mom? Dad? What happened fifteen years ago? Who are you talking to?" Sophia demanded. Both her parents shook listening to the voice coming through the receiver.

"Sophia...call Ivan! Call Issac!" Her dad shouted. Then, unexplained, both husband and wife vanished, leaving the phone hanging.

"No way...oh my God..." Sophia stammered. True, she was fourteen, but she had just gotten the shock of her life. Trembling, she picked up the phone. She dialed Grandpa Issac's phone number.

"Hello?" An old man asked.

"Grandpa Issac!" Sophia practically screamed into the speaker. "Oh God, what the hell just happened to my mom and dad? One minute they're on the phone and the next they've vanished!"

"Slow down, child. I have all your cousins on with you. The same thing happened to them." Issac told her, trying to soothe the teenage girl.

"Wait. I have more than one cousin?" Sophia asked, curiosity seeping into her mind. "Ivan is my only cousin."

"Yeah, I heard that too!" An American girl's voice barked from some distant place. "Ivan is our only cousin! Unless..."

"Your parents wanted to keep you all secret from one another. But, I'm afraid; we can't do that anymore. Each of you has eight cousins, including Ivan. Julia, you called first. Introduce yourselves in the order you called. Sophia, you were our last caller." Issac explained.

"Ok. I'm Julia Link. I'm twelve years old." The American said.

"I'm Celeste Shimamura, age thirteen." A Japanese/French girl said.

"My name is Florence Heinrich. I recently turned fourteen," A girl with a trace of German in her voice stated.

"I would be Angelina Junior, at age thirteen." An alto voice said.

"I'm Li Hua Changku! Call me Liana! I'm twelve!" A Chinese girl gushed.

"I am Rene Meraga, thirteen years old." A melodic voice spoke quietly.

"That leaves me. I'm Sophia Britain. I'm fourteen." Sophia finished.

"Could you all pass for at least eighteen?" A young male's voice asked. "Could all of you do that?"

"Oh yeah!" Julia's voice exclaimed, a fire riding in it.

"Good. Issac and I have already purchased tickets for each of you to fly to Japan tomorrow. At different times in the day, a limousine will pick you each up and take you to the airport. Celeste, before you ask, Gil...Issac and I will pick you up personally. All of you will not sleep tonight, and there is no need, for you will sleep on the plane. I shall see you all tomorrow or the next day," The voice said. By that time, each girl had figured out it was Ivan's.

"Well, I suppose I'll meet you tomorrow! Good night to everyone!" Liana's voice called, then hung up. Eventually, each girl murmured her farewell and hung up.

-&-&-&-

"Wow! I'm in Japan!" Julia Link breathed, red hair flying out the car window. Gilmore had picked her up an hour ago. She was the last to arrive in Japan.

"Here we are," Issac told her, pulling his car into a driveway. "Welcome. They all are waiting for you inside."

Julia bounded out of the car, releasing all her pent-up energy. Her fierce green eyes could not take it in fast enough. The door flew open to reveal a brown-haired girl with large aquamarine eyes.

Both girls looked like they were meeting their twin.

"Hi, I'm Julia!" Julia introduced herself face-to face. The other girl seemed a bit overwhelmed by the outburst.

"I'm Celeste. Come on, take off your shoes and meet everyone else." Celeste said, inviting Julia inside. Everyone looked up to meet a fire-headed American who wore jeans, black sneakers, a black shirt, and a gray sweatshirt under the shirt.

"Never in my wildest dreams..." Julia muttered, surveying her six new cousins.

"Nice to meet you!" The girl with black hair said, jumping up. She had a white flower behind her ear, chestnut-colored eyes, and was decked out in a lavender mini-skirt and a powder blue tank top with white shoes. "I'm Liana."

"As Ivan describes you, 'The hot-headed American'," A girl with tanned skin said. Her voice was a soft alto. "I would be..."

"Can we guess each other's names?" Celeste asked. "It would be fun."

The girl with long silvery-blue hair and opaque blue eyes spoke up. "Yes. Red head over there is evidently Julia Link, all the way from America. Door woman is...Celeste Shimamura? Alto girl is Angelina Junior. Miss Liana was the first to introduce herself to me. I don't know the rest of you." Her voice carried a trace of German on it.

"That is right." Angelina replied. "You are Miss Florence Heinrich, no?"

The silver-haired girl beamed. "Correct."

"I'll take a stab at it. Blondie..." Julia began.

"Refrain from calling me blondie and I won't call you hothead," Sophia said calmly.

"Right. Girl with the black and blue eyes is Sophia Britain." Julia continued. "And way over in the corner is...Rene Meraga!"

Rene rose upon hearing her name. She had long, dark brown hair that had been combed neatly into two braids and milk-chocolate colored skin. Her eyes were a stunning shade of ice blue, and she wore only a denim skirt and a white shirt. Rene wore a simple pair of sandals on her feet. "That's right. Now that we're all introduced, I hope we can be civil."

Issac took over, walking in with each child's baggage. "Yes, now that you all have met, we must get down to the matter at hand."

Comments were heard that that was what they should have done in the first place.

"Let's go to the dining room and discuss matters there," Ivan interjected, allowing many different eyes to fall upon him.

"Do any of you know what happened fifteen years ago?" Issac began. Every child shook her sorry head. "I'll tell you. For Celeste, both her parents were spies known as 009 and 003. As for the rest of you, your fathers were spies known as 002, 004, 005, 006, 007, and 008. Fifteen years ago, they each went their separate ways. Ivan and I stayed together after working with them for several years. All your parents, Ivan and myself worked together against an organization called Black Ghost. Fifteen years ago was when 009 destroyed the head of the organization. Our theory is that Black Ghost somehow survived and started back up again."

There was not a female face in the entire house that had been filled up with a wild understanding. Celeste was the first to speak. "Did you guys have some kind of cool escape car like those James Bond movies? All spies, according to Hollywood, have to have an awesome getaway car."

"We did better than a car, Celeste." Ivan replied. "Come, I'll show you." Everyone was led to a small door that took you down a narrow flight of stairs, and then into a vast, darkened room. Ivan flipped a light switch. "This is the Dolphin, our all-purpose 'getaway' craft."

"And you would never expect it. I mean, my dad always told me about this great car that he used to have. This does this in by far," Florence commented, pressing her palm to the white paint. "I find it fascinating that we all share so much but are different in so many ways. Do all of you look like one of your parents?"

"My daddy's hair is the same as mine, and if I used, like, five tubes of gel our hair would look the same." Julia replied, laughing. "But it is so hard to do."

"Both my parents say I look like both of them combined. I have my mom's eyes and my daddy's hair. It's funny you asked, Florence. You look like the female version of my Uncle Albert." Celeste said.

The cousins froze. "You...we truly are cousins. My dad's name is Albert, and I'm constantly told that I'm his female duplicate. Julia looks like my Uncle Jet. Celeste, you look like both my Aunt Francoise and my Uncle Joe."

"Liana, does your father own a Chinese restaurant?" Rene asked.

"Yeah. Is your dad the one who scuba dives?" Liana shot back. The two watched one another.

"I look like my mother. I have her hair and her eyes. But my dad's a comedian. He presses his navel and he turns into whatever we want. We get some fantastic shows out of him that way," Sophia added.

"I know him. My dad lifts up the car sometimes to get the newspaper underneath." Angelina said, sealing the deal.

"I've known all of you since you were born. Your Grandpa Issac and I helped keep you from meeting one another. But when you try that hard, people are bound to meet at some point in time. Shall we discuss how we're going to get your parents back with Issac now?" Ivan asked.

"Shoot, I forgot!" Julia shouted, tearing up the steps.

"Ivan, she is the worst hothead I've ever met. Even the actors aren't that bad when they act. I bet if we turned her loose when she was mad at someone, she'd put them into a coma." Florence said, watching the ferocious twelve-year-old wave at them from the top of the stairs.

"Let's solve this problem and go rescue them," Rene added. "Besides, I'm dying to see how this thing dives."

-&-&-&-

Issac was facing the wrath of teenage girls. They were pelting him with questions faster than he could answer. It was like playing a game of Jeopardy with a ten-second time limit to reply.

"We need to slow down if we want him to answer," Angelina interrupted. "Now, we all need to know how to work that Dolphin thing. We're all over the age of twelve, but we aren't exactly twenty-one yet, either."

"You'll learn as you go along," Ivan explained. Angelina accepted the explanation.

"Grandpa, are you coming with us?" Rene asked.

"Yes, dear. I can help each of you to learn what needs to be done," Issac replied. Liana's long black hair swirled gracefully as she climbed up a ladder leading into the Dolphin. "It has been a very long time since I've out of my home."

"Let's not draw this out longer than it needs to be," Sophia said, eyeing Julia. "I would like to get home before my next gymnastics competition."

"Yes, there is a friend of mine who invited me to practice cheerleading with her next Saturday. After that, I have a black belt test," Julia added.

"Well, we shall see how this turns out." Ivan said, seating himself at the main controls. "Do you know how to use a gun?"

"A **WHAT**?" Celeste demanded, loosing all the calm feelings inside. "Dude, I would rather know how to dismantle a hard drive than know how to use one of those things. Why would we want to?"

"In Germany, we have a lot of gangs. I was taught to use a gun the day after my birthday. I hate using one. I hate having to pull the trigger. I've had to defend myself several times already. It is not a pleasant feeling." Florence whispered, wringing her hands.

"I can use a gun if I have to. But I prefer just to knock 'em out the old fashioned way. Self defense is the way to go!" Julia shouted, punching the air. "My mom like me picking one of those vile things up just like she likes it when I go romping in the rain."

Sophia's wide eyes seemed darker suddenly. "We all need to learn. I know I don't want to, but if I want to live and see my parents again, I'll have to learn. However you configure gymnastics, it's nowhere near enough force. I'm going to learn how to work with this piece of work, and then with those killing machines."

"Let's get moving," Celeste said, sitting down. "We have clothes for a few days, and I'm sure one of us can cook. I think it best we forget how much danger we're in and think of it as an RPG."

"Yee-ha! I'm playing the insane weather woman!" Julia cheered, sitting close to Ivan. "This will be just like playing the (dot).hack games!"

"I'll learn as I go along," Florence assured herself, sitting across from Celeste. "I swear I will."

"I'm agreeing with Florence on that," Liana continued. "I have no idea what an 'RPG' is."


	2. Destiny's Trail

Awww! Those reviews were so very nice! I feel so honored to have so many people reviewing already. Sadie was sitting at my computer all day looking for reviews! Ah, you have no idea how much I danced around after that.

I don't own Cyborg 009, but I own the children of the cyborgs.

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The Cyborg Children

Chapter Two: Destiny's Trail

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"This looks like the end, huh, Joe?" 002 asked glumly.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Jet. Doctor Gilmore and Ivan may have dreamed something up still," Francoise replied, determined not to loose hope.

"Well, I won't, mate. Let's just hope we can all get out of here before Sophia has her next gymnastics tournament." Britain said, looking into the darkness.

-&-&-&-

"Celeste! That was fantastic!" Julia cheered. "Just a little bit more effort and you'll knock the sucker out."

By this point, the new Dolphin crew had managed to get into the Sea of Japan. Julia was teaching Celeste how to do a spinning back kick, and it was working suprisingly well. Liana was working in the kitchen, scavenging for supplies that could be used. Sophia had already taken herself on a tour of the Dolphin, and was shocked to see how orderly it was.

"Sophia? I need your help!" Liana called.

"Coming!" Sophia replied, running toward the kitchen. It was beyond her logical reasoning why anyone would need help in an old kitchen.

"It's _alive_!" Liana squealed, pointing at a large spider.

"That's all?" Sophia asked. She seized a paper towel and squashed it. "That's all you need to do. By the way, do you need any hair gel? I found about five crates of the stuff,"

"No," Liana said. "Thanks for your help! I'm going to start cooking in a few minutes, so be on guard to see if I short-circuit the place."

"I'll tell that to everyone," Sophia returned, scuttling from the room. Ivan had told Sophia and Liana that their fathers were always fighting one another. It was funny, since their daughters were best friends.

"Look what I found," Florence said, dragging a large box from a closet. "Earpieces. We can communicate if we're far away!"

"Interesting. I found a ton of hair gel." Sophia told her. Florence giggled.

"Maybe we can experiment of Julia's hair. We can get it to look like Uncle Jet's!" Florence laughed, leaning against the box for support.

The lights flickered on and off, then eventually died out completely.

"What?!" Julia's voice demanded. "Who blew a circuit already? Jeez, you try and do something..."

"Sorry!" Liana's voice squeaked. "I didn't know that was the power switch!" And with that, the lighting came back on. Julia huffed and came dashing down the hall.

"Girls, you must be careful! This isn't like a computer. You must be _careful_. Don't flip any more switches without telling us first," Ivan shouted.

-&-&-&-

"All my hope is used up," Chang said. "I can't even cook!"

"Oh, shut up. It isn't like you have to..." Britain started.

"You two! I can't stand it any longer!" Madison Link screamed, hands on hips. "If you two have to fight, then do it _after_ we're out of this. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." The two cyborgs said in unison.

-&-&-&-

"I'm falling asleep. Forget listening to how it is," Julia mumbled. "I'll be on the couch, trying to get to bed. Night."

"Julia! It isn't even six o'clock!" Angelina shouted. The time difference was effecting her also, but nowhere near as much as the effect it took on Julia.

"I know Celeste and Liana are used to this time, but are the rest of you having jet lag?" Rene asked.

"I speak for all of us when I say yes," Sophia said. "Let's just sit the sack early and deal with everything in the morning."

"Doesn't Julia wear contact lenses?" Ivan asked Issac.

"Oh, dear," He said.

"Julia!" Angelina shouted, shaking the sleeping Julia.

"Dammit!" The American swore, half asleep. "Leggo! I wanna go to bed!"

"Your lenses," Rene told her.

Julia sat up. "I don't care about them. Now let me go to sleep."

"I'm not volunteering to get boxed, so let's forget about it go to bed." Rene said.

-&-&-&-

"My eyes!" Julia hissed. "What time is it?"

Slowly, she stood up from the couch. She was still wearing her clothes that she arrived in Japan in. It was dark, so she reached for her cosmetics bag in the dark and pulled out her lens solution.

Having done this many times before, Julia expertly managed to get her lenses out and get them into the container in less than five minutes. Pulling the thick, coke-bottle glasses on, Julia felt her way into the darkness. It wasn't like her to be snooping in the dark; she'd the one who would be snooping in a storm. Silently, she walked down the empty halls.

I should tell you that Julia is known for her short temper. Right now, it was being exercised to curse as loud as possible at nothing in particular. Being the fire she is, her parents hoped that she would let it out in Tae Kwon Do.

That lasted for maybe ten minutes. Julia donned a uniform and promptly knocked the teacher out cold. We're talking age 11, people. The teacher was forty something. Instantly, Julia was at first degree green belt. After all the trouble, Julia just managed to find new ways to exert her new skill.

This year, Julia has a friend who cheerleads. They sometimes teach one another. Now that Julia's done that, she's got her red baton and ready to kill.

"Julia?" A sleepy voice asked. "What are you doing up?"

"Isn't it like, late in the morning?" Julia returned.

"No, it's only four in the morning! Again, why are you awake?" Celeste asked once again, coming out of a room. Julia looked puzzled.

"Oh, that's right. Time difference." Julia said, admitting defeat. "Where's Ivan?"

"Control room." Celeste responded. "Later."

With that, both girls slinked back into the ways that they had come from. Julia was in the control room before she knew it, only to be facing Ivan.

"How dare you sneak up on me?" She demanded, quite nearly dislodging Ivan's head with a fantastic punch. Then, Julia noticed who it was and blushed a brilliant shade of magenta. "My bad, Ivan! Warn me!"

"It's quite alright, Julia. A week cannot change an American into a Japanese. At least you got your contacts out. Do you know how hard we tried to get those things out?" Ivan said, inviting her in. Julia was just getting over the fact she had nearly managed to destroy a person.

Little know to her, she would have only been like a poke.

-&-&-&-

"Using that thing makes me **_sick_**." Celeste stated flat-out. Her face looked as if it had been freshly bleached and was hanging on the line to dry. "Honestly, Julia, I prefer you method."

"Score for me-sa! I kick CAN!" Julia screamed, running and punching a metal disk. The only thing she obtained from that was a seriously swollen fist.

"Julia, we're working on shooting," Florence said in a shaking voice. "If you do that any more, I swear, we'll be moving you around in wheelchair."

The fire-headed twelve-year old obediently donned the sound mufflers and picked up a gun. _It's all right,_ she told herself. _I have to do it. There's no other way. Florence is right. I'll be in a wheelchair by tomorrow if I keep using martial arts._

"Bleh," Liana commented, firing one last round. "At least I hit the target!"

After a week on the Dolphin, Issac had decided that it was time for the girls to learn to use guns. Seeing poor Celeste with one was like trying to imagine Godzilla with a parasol and a tutu. Florence could shoot with extreme ease; then she'd take a minute to forget it was just for defense. Julia was almost as difficult as trying to get your dog to golf was. The rest of the girls just did it to get it over with.

"That's good for today." The old man sighed, collecting the guns. "You did very well."

"Celeste, could I have a word with you?" Ivan asked. Celeste already knew what the questions would be. She'd been going through it every day.

"I'm not a little girl, Ivan" She retorted before the boy even had the chance to speak.

"Celeste, you _aren't_ fine. You know you aren't. After we do this, you won't eat and you become extremely pale. Your grandpa and I are worried about you. Are you ill?" Ivan asked, unshaken by Celeste's outburst.

"Perfectly fine, Ivan." Celeste snapped, pulling away. "Besides, how can I trust you're just not some freak?"

"Would I care about you if you weren't my cousin?" Ivan asked. Celeste thought. "I know. To prove I'm that I'm your cousin, shoot me. If I die, then you'll know that I was lying."

Celeste thought. _It will be following destiny's trail, so I'll prove it. He's my cousin, and he wants to see that I'm not a chicken._ "Very well. Hand me a gun."

Ivan did as he was told. Celeste accepted it, and with a tiny shiver, took aim. Ivan backed away. Without hesitation, Celeste shot. Ivan took the shot, but didn't seem to mind it. On the other hand, Celeste was now brutally shaking.

"I'm not dead. You can look," Ivan told the shaking female. Celeste slowly looked at him; her face (if possible) was even paler. She handed the gun to her cousin and darted for the bathroom, shoving her way past Florence and Liana.

"What did you do?" Florence asked her only male cousin. "No, don't tell me. You made her shoot you. Most likely, you were wearing a bulletproof vest. It wasn't hard to figure out."

"Yes. Celeste told me that she wasn't scared to shoot." Ivan smoothly replied.

"We all know that she's dead afraid. She only wanted to prove you wrong. Still, Celeste shouldn't have done it. You and Grandpa should give her a break tomorrow from practice. If you don't, she'll never leave this place." Liana added, turning to face a paper-white Celeste.

"Ivan, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. You were right. I'm scared to shoot. Really, I'm sorry. When I was eight, there was a gun fight near my house." Celeste said. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go and request to be excused tomorrow."

"Can I predict the future or what?" Liana giggled. "And why did you shoot, anyway?"

"Destiny. You can't refuse destiny when it beckons. Ask the stars, they always tell the future." Celeste returned, winking. "Later."

"She's obsessed with stars, is she not?" Florence asked.

"Yes, just like you are obsessed with music." Ivan said.

"Don't get me started. I have two weeks to memorize ten pages of piano music, and this isn't helping me very much," Florence commented. "It's a huge recital with a professional judge. If I get an encore, I'll be accepted into the Germany Conservatory of Music."

"Sounds like a high standard. Have fun!" Liana said cheerfully, skipping toward the kitchen.

"Is there a piano anywhere? You had everything else, so you must have one." Florence questioned.

"I'm sorry, Florence, but we don't." Ivan told her. _I only wish we did. _

-&-&-&-

"Didn't I tell you to shut your faces a few hours ago?" Madison Link demanded, infuriated by the two bickering cyborgs. "I'm really getting pissed. I swear, if you don't stop, _I will kick your ass to the next universe. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!_"

"Madison," Jet said, holding his head in his hands. "Try and relax."

"Please be quiet," Francoise said. "I'm trying to find our children."

"Look for piano playing," Albert told her. "Florence plays piano."

-&-&-&-

"Hello Uncle...sorry, Florence." Sophia said. Florence didn't seem to mind any more.

"I need a piano. I need one or I will get this thing to a music store." Florence said in a monotone voice.

"Out there! Dinner time!" Liana shouted. "It's getting cold!"

"PIANO!" Florence hollered. Sophia jumped a foot in the air. "Sorry. Ever since I was reminded of my stupid recital, nothing is going to stop me from playing. You may want to invest in finding a music store nearby so I can play. If not, I'll most likely go insane within the next month."

"We haven't got a century, peeps!" Julia screamed, temper quickly burning to nothing.

"We're coming, youngling." Sophia said curtly, walking the yard to the dining room. Julia was on top of her chair, wearing her glasses and a set of steel-toed boots.

"I would think a week's long enough," Julia said, looking Sophia square in the eyes. "So let's see what you're made of."

"Really, Julia, you're TWO YEARS younger than I am!" Sophia replied, getting ready to take whatever Julia was going to throw out at her.

"HIYA!" Liana boomed, silencing the two girls. "It is POINTLESS to fight like that! Save your anger for another moron who NEEDS IT!"

"Like her?" They asked in unison, pointing like children.

"I agree." Celeste said, rising. "It's stupid. If our parents were friends, then why are we fighting for just a name? It is almost the same as me getting in an argument with Florence because I think the celestial force is better than music. We have our separate opinions! Get over it!"

Julia reluctantly seated herself. "Guilty as charged. My name is Julia, not 'youngling', Blondie."

Sophia was nearly pleased. "Why, thank you, Juli...THAT IS IT! Listen, _hothead_, they told us not to fight. And here you are, pouring gas on the forest fire. When I left home, I was leaving weight training. I've waited since I was _three_ to do that. I'm missing it for this. I'm missing eleven years of waiting to be discriminated. It had _better _stop, or I'll be out of here on the next plane to England."

Nobody dared to budge after Sophia's speech. Julia was trying desperately not to talk, but sadly, the result was a stream on incoherent babbling. Florence was watching with her large, understanding eyes for what was coming next. Angelina was peacefully meditating; watching Sophia's every move with the single eye that was open. Rene had frozen passing a pitcher of water.

"Well, now. What seems to be the problem?" Sophia asked neatly, at last sitting on the innocent stool. "We're all different. Not a one of us like the one seated next to us. In Japan and England, we have tea. In Africa and some parts of North America, they have tribal dances. In Germany and Russia, different beliefs are almost as common as different looks. In China and Japan, all that girls are good for is wives. Sure, we've all got a different background, but what does it matter? We all have a common goal: to get our parents back. Who cares about everything else? Remember it. Don't get sidetracked."

"Um. Well, let's eat?" Liana chirped, uncertain if she should even be moving.

Not even Issac or Ivan could speak. Sophia was the oldest out of the eight females, but still, they all treated one another the same age. It was right for Julia to feel out of place, as it was for all of them. But giving out a long speech as if it were planned was as out of place as the girls were.

A curtain of silence fell over the table. All you could hear was the sound of silverware meeting plates and the gentle _thump_ when a platter of food or a pitcher was placed on the table. Celeste's hair fell into her food, but she wasn't in any hurry to pull it out and fawn over it. Sophia's eyes had turned from mysterious to angry and depressed. Not even Liana was in the mood to try and bring conversation into the room.

-&-&-&-

"So it's possible for you two to be quiet," Madison said, leaning on her husband. "Francoise, have you found them?"

"GB, does your daughter have an accent?" Francoise asked.

"A slight one, yes," Amanda Britain said for him.

"They're out looking for us, and by the sounds of it, they fight almost as much as 006 and 007 used to." Francoise announced. "Your daughter just finished rattling out how important it was to not fight and get over differences and find us."

"Since when was she like that?" Chang asked. "Last time I looked, she was a gymnast with a wild sense for drama."

"Beats me, mate." Britain said, puzzling over how his own child turned into a philosopher.

-&-&-&-

"Look, Julia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like a lunatic," Sophia apologized. Julia met the large black and blue eyes again.

"I'm extremely sorry. You're right. Why fight when we have to get over all this?" Julia answered, all fire cleaned from her voice.

"Good news, everyone!" Celeste shouted. "We're going to a mall in America tomorrow!"

"Really?" Seven voices demanded.

"Yes, and by Florence's request, we are stopping at a music store first thing!" Celeste exclaimed. "What are your malls like, Angelina?"

"First, they're noisy. Then, when you look up, you get dizzy from seeing all the floors above you. People are swarming all over. There are so many guys on skateboards, just trying to break their necks. I could go on all day." Angelina remarked. Celeste's broad smile drooped a little, but didn't lose its glow.

"Malls are insane! Many challenges for a fight await me!" Julia shouted, striking a pose.

"No way, forest fire. You're going to control your temper or stay here all day." Florence snapped, frightening Julia. "And besides, you could find _something_ at a music store. They're pretty cool."

"Grandpa, are we allowed to buy stuff?" Julia asked.

"Possibly, if we have enough." He replied from the dining room.

"Yay! Then I can introduce you to Hot Topic!" Julia cried, performing a full-fledged somersault over the couch. Once she landed, Sophia topped it off by running, then a handspring and over the couch with a somersault.

"You two are worse than swimming a duel meet," Rene said, getting a dreamy look in her eyes. "Nobody will ever take what the last team did. They have to lay it to shame before they can be happy. They are fun."

-&-&-&-

"THIS IS AMERICA?" Celeste screamed, jaw dropping as they landed in a nondescript bay. "Wow. It's...I don't know...darker. There's almost a foreboding aura around it. It doesn't feel quite right."

"I can't help but agree," Rene said. "It's...unpleasant. Even though it's rumored as 'The land of the free, home of the brave', it doesn't jump out at you. America is polluted."

"You can save your comments for later, guys. Right now, all I care is that that have a decent music store." Florence told them, instantly shutting them up. "I think we should divide into pairs. Angelina and Rene, you'll be a pair. Celeste and Liana; Sophia and Ivan. I'll take Julia with me. Grandpa, do you mind going alone?"

"Not at all, dear," Issac replied. "I'll be doing some shopping on my own."

"This should be fun!" Celeste said gaily.

"Well, now that we've landed, we've got to find a mall first," Julia commented, dampening Celeste's glow.

-&-&-&-

There was a large crowd around a tiny little music store at the heart of the mall. Florence was perched on the piano bench, playing a long piece with her eyes shut. She was so deeply in tune with what she was playing; she hadn't noticed the mob around the hole-in-the-wall Bronstein's.

Julia was playing guard at the door along with Sophia. The employees were in total shock. Florence moved right along with the music, going on and on and on. In her world, it was only her and the grand piano she was playing. Nothing else mattered.

Florence finished the last measure of her ten-minute song, and snapped out of her musical world to hear the sound of applause. She turned red as one little boy asked if she could teach him to play as well as she did.

"People, listen. Just go back to shopping! She's a normal girl!" Julia screamed, driving twenty people away. Florence sighed in relief on the piano bench. "I SAID SCAT, YOU IMBECILE!"

"What're you calling me an imbecile for, squirt?" A black haired boy demanded. Julia was spitting tacks. "What, you mad?"

Julia had hit the boiling point five minutes ago. At this point, she was well over rage. This punk was being a jerk. As her teacher had been telling her for over a year, "Think before you do". Julia's mind and body seemed to separate as Sophia tried pinning the child down, and Julia broke free like a bull through restraints of straw.

"Mission control, we have a Julia on the loose," Florence whispered into a tiny speaker.

"Are you still at the music shop?" Ivan asked back.

"Yes." Florence said softly. "You had all better come as quickly as possible. She's ready to bring the place down with those steel boots of hers."

"We'll be there in five," Several voices clambered. Julia was still trying not to use her absolute favorite steel toed boots, but it was getting harder by the second. The punk was just begging for a broken leg.

After what felt like an hour of holding down rage, Julia cut it loose and flew at the idiot punk. At the same moment, quite a few strong pairs of arms caught her. Julia didn't care. Her target was in range, so she simply pulled back and dashed forward once more.

"Kuso!" Celeste cursed. "Julia is going to get herself killed."

"Tell me about it," Sophia muttered. Julia had already done away with the punk's delicate area, as we'll call it.

"How'd ya like that, dork?" Julia demanded, swirling on her heels. The boy was doubled over in pain. Now it was Julia holding up a lit sign asking to please have a limb broken. Julia vaulted over the punk.

That was the worst mistake she had ever made.

Just as she was over, the punk stood up and grabbed her leg. Julia lost her balance and tumbled down onto her right arm with a loud CRUNCH. Not that it mattered to her. Her arm was less important than kicking this idiot's can.

"Little girls aren't supposed to be here without their mommies!" The boy crowed, pouring gas onto Julia's forest fire. It wasn't like Julia even _needed_ it. She charged once again at the ass, this time targeting his head.

"Yeah, really, little boys should be playing basketball!" Julia jumped and gave her best kick. It had landed on his chest.

"ENOUGH!" Ivan roared, alarming each and every one of his calm cousins. Julia was frozen by mental energy. White-hot pain roared through her wrist and at last caught up with her mind. Julia was involuntarily brought in by Ivan, her rage at long last starting to fade away.

-&-&-&-&-

WELL? How was it? I wanted to get in that mall scene before next chapter. You guys are really making my day! Sorry this chapter took the first half of eternity.

Next chapter we'll get what happened to both fighters! I hope to see you all then!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE! :doles out Coke and candy:


	3. Fight for Your Right!

This is my most popular story ever! (even from before I was deleted!) I felt like trying to go into cyberspace and hug my reviewers! But sadly since I can't do it yet, I hope you'll settle for...PLUSHIES OF YOUR CHOICE!

By the way, this chapter's title uses correct grammar. It means...well, you'll see :winks:

If I could, I would own Cyborg 009 and have them being my puppets! wh00t! I also don't own any of the songs that appear in this chapter. This chapter is a partial songfic, but it will make a lot more sense once you see it. (it's only a small part of the chapter.)

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Three: Fight for Your Right!

-&-&-&-&-

"How was I supposed to know I broke it?" Julia flared, sitting on a cot in the infirmary. They had returned to the Dolphin an hour ago, only to discover that Julia had broken her wrist.

"Aside from all the pain, I don't know," Sophia teased. Julia growled.

"Hey, you can try holding _your_ rage down for seven minutes. It's harder than hell. I tried, and tried, and eventually got my point across to the jerk." Julia added. "The best part was kicking him with these beauties. Nobody can resist my boots!"

By this time, Julia had gotten out of her crazed state. Once Ivan had rendered her motionless, every ounce of pain seemed to come and rage war on Julia. She was going to try and ignore that just like she had ignored rage, but this time it couldn't be held back. After thirty seconds, Julia was clinging to her arm.

-&-&-&-

"Did you meet them?" An ebony figure demanded. A boy with black hair stood directly under him.

"Yeah. One of them will make a fantastic cyborg once she's grown a little," The boy replied.

"And what of our captives? Are they being treated fairly? We don't want them injured now, do we?" The ebony figure swirled around in his dark cape, revealing a skull mask and bulbous goldenrod eyes. The boy was remembering just _how_ many teeth this guy could fit in one mask.

"They're fine. Except they're going stir crazy and want to see their children in the worst way possible, they're fine." The boy said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Black Ghost, sir. I must be going."

"Very well." Black Ghost boomed, dismissing the youth from his lair.

-&-&-&-

Julia was tearing around again like the devil she was, except with a casing of plaster around her right wrist. Once again, she and Celeste were working on a phenomenal cheerleading move with a kick of karate added for fun.

Florence had become a much more reasonable person. Whenever she sat down, her hands would automatically mimic playing a keyboard. Instead of asking when they were getting a piano, she'd ask if she could help with something. Most of the time, she was in the control room with Ivan.

"What's nagging at you, Julia?" Celeste asked. "You aren't like you usually are. There's no vigor in your motion. Something's up."

Julia looked at Celeste. Two weeks ago, this person would have been another face to look at going by. Now their lives were woven into the tightest bond possible. You couldn't have brought two people closer.

"You aren't even talking!" Celeste exclaimed, flabbergasted. Julia could give the Pope a snappy comeback.

Julia looked again at Celeste and sighed. "I should tell someone. We should have been armed. That guy was wearing a shirt that said..."

"You guys! We have company!" Liana hollered from the control room. Julia appeared to have stored her anger away instead of loosing it. Celeste sighed deeply and followed Julia up the way.

"Well, if it isn't the squirt!" A black-headed boy shouted.

Julia was ready to kick the butt again with her boots. "If it isn't Mr. Sensitive."

"I'm not Mr. Sensitive! I'm 0022!" He hollered. Julia picked up a gun and held it firmly at his head.

"One move and your head will be on display," Julia snapped. Celeste dashed from the scene, leaving everyone else to deal with the evil punk.

"It depends," 0022 replied, drawing a pistol, "Where will it hang?"

"Right here!" Celeste roared, shooting two guns at once. Liana and Sophia nearly died from shock. Celeste could give Miss Manners a run for her money, and here she was, shooting guns as if it were her nature. 0022 looked at Celeste with her brown hair whipping about wildly, and wondered if she was 009's child.

"Oh, it's squirt number two!" He boomed over the chaos. Celeste jumped behind him out the open window and bounded onto the top of the Dolphin. Nobody else tried to copy her feat; rather, they simply climbed through the hatch.

Once they got there, Florence all but fell right back down. Celeste was shooting non-stop at 0022, and he was shooting right back. She momentarily stopped shooting and charged at him. Then, using a horrible cheerleading move, she...

-&-&-&-

"Where the hell are they?" Britain demanded.

"I tell you honestly, I could care less." Black Ghost said to his captives. Jet used an array of choice words at the screen that displayed his captor.

"Jet! What if Julia's in there?" Madison asked, playfully smacking him. He got the message.

"My servant has already finished them off by this time." Black Ghost told them, lying through his mask. "And if you'll excuse me, I have more _human_ matters to tend to."

If that didn't cause holy hell to break loose, there would have been nothing else that could.

-&-&-&-

"You're all worthy of fighting with me! Care to work for Black Ghost?" 0022 asked. Everyone excluding Issac was worn down to the last scrap of power, physically and mentally. Celeste launched herself at him with the last of her dying strength.

"Tell me where our parents are and maybe I'll let you live!" Celeste screamed, kicking his sensitive part. The boy clung to his lower half, moaning. Julia ran to him, and instead of vaulting over, settled for a swift kick in the behind with her steel-toed boots. It was guaranteed to have him sitting on a cushion for another six months, or your money back.

"Can't tell you," 0022 taunted. At that exact moment, a helicopter flew overhead and dropped a ladder down. "I'll be seeing you later, squirts!"

Everything seemed to take its toll on Celeste. As if waking up from a deep sleep, she looked at the guns in her hands. She stood there, gasping for air. Her skin was a deathly pale once more as Julia rushed over to hug Celeste.

"Glad...I could help." Celeste said before fainting into Julia's unsuspecting arms.

-&-&-&-

"Julia!" Sophia exclaimed, throwing a couch pillow across the room, "Respect your elders!"

"Elders my butt!" Julia joyfully called over her shoulder. She hurled a pillow at Liana's exposed head over the couch.

Celeste was asleep down in the infirmary, and as explained by Issac, because of a severe shock. Her phobia to guns had sent her into shock after their fight with 0022, and she wouldn't wake up for another day. Everyone was disappointed, but kept their spirits up by having a pillow fight in the living room.

"Take that!" Ivan shouted as he threw a pillow at a stunned Angelina. She reacted by pummeling him with at least four more.

Issac was glad to see them all rollicking about together. Watching all the girls and Ivan go at it was amusement in its highest form. He was really quite tempted to join them, but he knew he would be risking his head to a bunch of teens.

Florence slid down behind an armchair with her arms loaded with pillows. "How's this?" She cried, launching three at Julia's head. Julia took two and ducked in time for the third to fly into Sophia's face.

"Really, do you think I'll take that?" Rene asked, jumping onto the armchair and dropping a pillow on Florence's head. Both were paralyzed by laughter.

"Hey, look, my stereo!" Julia shouted, pulling a portable stereo out of a corner. "And my CD's are here too! Loud music!"

A second later, Bringin' Da Noise was blasting out of the small stereo. Julia looked as if she was drawing energy from the music. Watching her throw pillows was like watching a little kid run in a candy shop, grabbing whatever it pleased. It took a minute for everyone else to get used to the loud music, but once they did, the pillow fight turned into a choreographed pillow fight.

"Whee! That was so much fun! Do you have any more songs?" Florence asked. Julia nodded happily and held up a black CD holder. Taking one out, she replaced the other one. There was a short instrumental, and then a woman's voice broke out in song.

**_Oh, you know I have seen_**

_**A sky without sun**_

_**A man with no nation**_

"A sky without sun?' Florence asked, tossing a pillow at Ivan. "I see that at night. Well, unless you have the sun out during night in America, I can understand. There's no reason for anyone to not see a sky without sun."

"Interesting...a man with no nation. I've seen someone like that. I have a friend who was born crossing the International Date Line. She has no nation." Rene commented.

**_Saints, captive in chains _**

**_A song with no name_**

_**For lack of imagination**_

This time, there were no comments. Sophia sprang over the couch and turned to throw pillows at Rene. A moment later, a long chain of pillows were headed at Sophia.

**_And I have seen..._**

_**Darker than ebony**_

Liana's dark hair could have been standing on end, but it wasn't. With all the pillows, there was so much static electricity going around that it wasn't a shock when Ivan's hair stood straight up.

**_And now it seems that I_**

_**Without your eyes could never be**_

Angelina came face-to-face with Florence as she hid from a pillow, and both thought how pretty the other's eyes were. Seconds later, six pillows came flying toward them and they burst out laughing at each other's startled faces.

My one desire, all I aspire 

_**Isn't your eyes forever to live**_

_**Traveled all over the seven oceans**_

_**There is nothing that I wouldn't give**_

_**Came from Bahrain, got to Beirut, **_

_**Looking for someone comparing to you**_

_**Tearing down windows and doors**_

_**And I could not find eyes like yours**_

All the way into Celeste's deep sleep, she heard the ruckus above her. Dreams plagued her sleep of crossing the entire world. At one point, she subconsciously screamed.

_**Came from Bahrain, got to Beirut, **_

_**Looking for someone comparing to you**_

_**Tearing down windows and doors**_

_**And I could not find eyes like yours**_

Angelina was at the center of the living room, standing on the coffee table. No one could hit such an easy target. It came to a sudden realization to Angelina that they were going from one end of the world to the next.

**_Oh, you know I have seen_**

_**A woman a means and rags begging for pleasure**_

_**Crossed a river of salt **_

Just after I rode a ship that sunk in the desert 

"Alright, girls, I think we've given each other enough," Julia said, panting. She flipped the stereo off.

"Can I borrow that sometime?" Florence asked. Julia's head bobbed with a renewed vigor.

-&-&-&-

"Well? Did you finish the mongrels off?" Black Ghost demanded, orb-like eyes glowing furiously.

"Yes," 0022 lied. "They were no trouble whatsoever."

"Really, then?" Black Ghost asked smugly. "Then why do I have this picture from your pilot?" He held up a picture of the girls and Ivan, standing without any blood on them. 0022 opened his mouth, but no words came out. "You said you destroyed the beasts. Now, show me the _real_ proof."

0022 was in a real pickle. "I dropped it!" He blurted, lying once more. He hadn't gotten anything from the Dolphin.

"Are you certain? Black Ghost asked, "Or do I need to get 0023 to help you?"

"I'll be back once they think they're out of the woods," 0022 said. "0023 doesn't need to help me. I'll be fine on my own."

"0022, are you _afraid _of me?" A female's voice asked, coming from a looming shadow. "I mean, I'm a scary person if you can't beat a bunch of KIDS!"

"Oh, stuff it, 0023." 0022 mumbled. The girl laughed and stepped out of the shadows, showing her long black hair and ice-blue eyes. She wore a blood-red jumpsuit that fit every curve of her body to the bursting point of the material.

"I get the feeling that we're going to be stuck together until the end of time," 0023 said, flicking 0022 hard on the forehead. "Now, let's see if we can find the snot-nosed brats."

-&-&-&-

Celeste woke up to find herself in a white room. Nobody looked to be in close proximity of wherever she was. The first thought that popped into her head was 0022. Had she been taken away? What had happened to her?

"Celeste?" Someone's voice called from outside the room. "Are you alive in there?" Celeste realized that it was Julia's voice. "Well, when you come back to life, you can come up and have din-din with us. Grandpa says you need to eat something."

It struck the Japanese/French child that she was still on the Dolphin. Nobody had taken her anywhere but the infirmary. Celeste relaxed quite a bit. It was reassuring to know that you were at least somewhere you could recognize.

The door burst wide open and for a moment, all Celeste could see was a mountain of food. Then Liana and Sophia's heads poked out from beneath, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello, Celeste! You're awake!" Liana exclaimed. It was impossible for Celeste's eyes to grow any larger by simply looking at all the food the two of them had brought down for her. "Grandpa Issac said you might be awake and want food, so we brought you some from up there!"

"And we brought everyone else, too!" Sophia added. Celeste saw Julia hanging in the doorway with Angelina and Rene trying to get in. Florence was already in with Sophia and Liana, holding up a tray of some sort of food. "Well, except Grandpa and Ivan, we did!"

-&-&-&-

As it turned out, Ivan and Issac were up in the control room. It was a good opportunity once the girls had gone to visit Celeste to discuss their next move.

"No, Gilmore, it is not wise to go straight there. You've seen them! They have raw energy that doesn't last for more than half an hour! We need to get them to train more!" Ivan argued. "Every one has a weakness that the others fill in. I admit it's a good thing, but what if you were to corner Julia? She'd beat you down, then pull off some stupid move and break a bone."

"I agree with you on that, Ivan. But now is when then have the most energy. They're roaring hot to destroy Black Ghost. If we wait any longer, their energy will start to fade as they see new opportunities." Issac interjected, causing the boy to cross his arms.

Ivan sighed. The older man had won. It royally stank, but they would have to get at Black Ghost some time. Right now wasn't the time to notify the cheerful females. Tomorrow, once they were all at breakfast, would be a great time.

"Did I interrupt something good?" Celeste asked, poking her head through a small gap in the door.

-&-&-&-

"Good, you're all here." Issac said, sitting down at the dining room table the next morning.

"Don't say a word. You're going to tell us we're headed straight for Black Ghost and that we need to save all our energy up. We're headed there right now, aren't we?" Celeste said. Ivan and Issac came quite close to falling off their stools.

"H-how did you know that?" Issac asked.

"It wasn't hard to hear you yelling at each other last night about it," Celeste explained. "And anyway, why not just get it over with?"

"That's a good one! Now, about training..." Liana said.

"No further training is needed. You're all at a good level right now." Ivan replied.

"No, Ivan. I disagree. That doesn't make any sense. From what I heard before I went down, you want us to train more. Like you said, each of us has a weakness. The rest don't have that weakness, but if one is caught, they'll be that much less imposing. For example, I simply cannot _stand_ the sight of blood. When I had my blood drawn, they used anesthetic on my so I wouldn't dart. Liana has a fear of people attacking from behind. I don't have the problems she has, and she doesn't have my fear of blood." Florence cross-examined, folding her arms in a pout.

"I agree with Florence," Celeste said. "While all of you can use guns, I can't. Julia burns her energy and then makes a fatal mistake. Sophia won't stand being alone. Rene has a fear of fire. Angelina stays away from water. Even you, Ivan. I don't know what your weakness is, but you have one."

"Don't start debating, _please_." Julia told them. "Whenever it starts, for the rest of the day we're going around in a pissy mood. So just lay off of it. Grandpa, we are _not_ going to head for Black Ghost's place yet. None of us are ready, _and_ we've just woken up. Give it a break. We all need to get over the 0022 incident. I'm willing to bet that he's coming back soon. Besides, my cereal is getting soggy."

Breakfast was continued with all the normal chatter. Julia was adapting to using her left hand to eat, which was quite a hard task. Florence laughed and tried eating with her right hand, since she was left-handed. The two of them wound up laughing at each other for trying it in the first place.

-&-&-&-

"Morons," 0023 said. "I thought you said that they were intelligent, you fool!"

"Sir, we are approximately fifty miles from the children," A pilot said.

"You blithering idiot! I'm a _woman_, idiot!" 0023 spat. The pilot saluted her, then returned to his job. Where had _this_ cyborg come from? Basic training?

"And as for _you_," 0023 said, turning once more on 0022. "I want you to get me a nice, cold beer. I'll need the energy."

"Yes, Your Highness." 0022 said under his breath. 0023 made a few interesting hand gestures before the male departed. 0022 was starting to get pissed. This female was dominant, sure, but even dominance had its limit. This was just pure abuse.

-&-&-&-

"Is it to late to tell you something?" Sophia asked. They were all out on the top of the Dolphin, lying flat on their backs and watching clouds.

"What is it?" Ivan asked.

"Well, I have a big problem. My younger cousin Emma is supposed to be visiting me today. She's eight years old. I left a message at home telling her that I was away visiting relatives. Her parents drop her off at our house and she stays for a few days at a time. I feel really terrible asking, but can we go get her? I don't want anything to happen to her," Sophia told them. Julia scrambled to sit up.

"Sure, go ask Issac if he'll let you fly to Britain. But I warn you; it may already too late to get her. Black Ghost is probably guarding your houses to make sure to get every one of you unsuspectingly. Hey, look, it's shaped like Japan!" Ivan replied. Florence laughed at Ivan's comment.

Without thinking twice, Sophia jumped down into the Dolphin. "Grandpa! Can we go to England right away at top speed? My little cousin is supposed to be visiting and Ivan said that Black Ghost may have gotten her!"

"Well, this is a change in plans. But I suppose we must if Black Ghost is out hunting. Let's go to the controls and we'll get into the air." Issac said.

"Get back down! We're flying!" Sophia shouted up to her family. They muttered their discontent and climbed inside. Sophia dashed to the control room to find her grandfather waiting to teach her.

The explanation was short and sweet. Once it was over, Sophia sat down at the main seat and set the Dolphin for top speed. Moments after, they took to the skies. The scenery changed from the deep ocean green that everyone was used to to a stunning blue. White clouds danced around.

"What is your cousin's name?" Angelina asked.

"Emma," Sophia replied, breathless from excitement.

"Well. Apparently, Black Ghost has heard her name within your home. They are waiting until you arrive to display what has occurred in your absence," Angelina told her. Sophia whirled and gave her a queer look.

"Can you hack?" Sophia asked.

"Yes. I only got good last year, but as you see, it pays off. Their system is child's play." Angelina told her.

"That's because that's a false lead," Ivan said. "You didn't expect it to be that easy, did you?"

Angelina sighed. "Good point."

On the flight drew. Sophia's senses were in such high tune that she could hear when Liana opened the refrigerator door in the kitchen. It was the most stressed that she'd ever been, including the time when she had taken the lead role in a nationwide play. That had been when she was eleven.

Nothing was going to tear that British girl away from the large window. Airplanes flew far above that moved at what seemed like an inching pace. Sophia was not going to let her attention snap. Letting that happen was like getting stage fright.

-&-&-&-

"Thank you. That only took you forty-five minutes." 0023 snapped, snatching the beer out of 0022's hands. He harumphed and turned back to return to the cargo area. "And where do you think you're going?"

"To find more beer," 0022 said through clenched teeth. "You're not the only one who needs energy around here."

"You're right," She purred. "I'm the only one that matters. I forgot! Thank you for reminding me of that, 0022. I'll make sure Black Ghost gives you an upgrade for that. And look, you blithering fool, you don't need to cause any more problems. I'll run this circus, so don't worry about it. Now, once we arrive, I want you to check what they're doing. After that, report back to me and I'll shoot the brats before they can think twice. I put my trust in you for this. Is that so hard?"

"I didn't understand that part about your running the show. Last time I checked, _I'm_ running this operation. Besides, you don't know those kids. They have 001 with them." 0022 barked.

0023 seemed taken back a bit. "001? How come we didn't get him?"

"Unimportant," 0022 responded. "Now, _you'll_ attack first and I'll wipe them out. Be warned for the one with red hair. She's got boots with steel and likes to kick."

"I've got news for you, _fool_. We've got bodies of steel!" 0023 sang.

-&-&-&-

"My house!" Sophia cried, standing up after five hours of sitting. Celeste and Rene had to hold her back from jumping to her death out the window.

"Can we land in your backyard?" Celeste asked. Sophia nodded gently. The Dolphin stopped on the rough grass beside rows of flowers and shrubbery. Sophia climbed the ladder three rungs at a time, and then pounced off the top. She charged up to the screen door and pulled a key out of one of the hanging flowerpots.

"Emma? Emma, are you here?" Sophia called into the house.

"Sophie? Did you come back?" A nervous little girl's voice asked. She peeked around a corner. She saw Sophia and bolted into her arms. Sophia lifted the child up and hugged her for all she was worth. The little girl had strawberry blond hair that curled at the ends and hazel eyes. She wore a blue long-sleeved t-shirt with a large blue star on it and a denim skirt with white sneakers. In her arms was a care-worn teddy bear.

"Emma! Nothing is wrong with you!" Sophia breathed into her cousin's hair. Emma cried into the older girl's shoulder.

"No! No! Sophie, you don't understand! I've been here for three days! They...they...." Emma said, bringing herself to look into Sophia's eyes.

"So this is Emma-chan?" Celeste asked. Emma looked up, alarmed.

"Emma, don't worry. They're your...other cousins." Sophia quickly said. Emma seemed to accept this. "Now, what were you saying?"

"Sophie! They changed me! I'm not the same! They gave me a new name!" Emma sobbed into Sophia's shoulder. ((A/N: Sophie is Emma's nickname for Sophia))

"Shhh, shhh. It's all right. We've found you. What name did they give you? Why did they give it to you?" Sophia asked gently.

"They called me 0021! They said I had power with the elements! Sophie, what does it mean?" The girl asked into her cousin's shoulder.

Sophia was frozen with horror. Not Emma. Not pure, sweet, innocent Emma. How could they? How could those...those...inhumane fools do that?

"It's too late!" Celeste exclaimed as if it were a line from a movie.

"There you are!" A woman's sharp voice pierced the melancholy feel. "I was looking for you, you snot-nosed brats. 0021, come with me!"

Like they had been cued, Florence and Angelina fired at the woman. She was jumping out of the sky down toward Sophia and Emma. Emma buried her face into Celeste and Sophia's shoulders to drown out the sound of the bullets.

"0021, why are you hiding from me? It's only 0023, coming to bring you back!" The cruel woman said. Emma looked at the woman.

"I said no before, you mean old lady!" Emma shouted. A moment later, fire had sprung up around 0023 and the three girls darted back to the Dolphin. Emma stopped them and ran back inside to get three suitcases, and then went running back out with them being carried by the wind.

"Come on, come on, before that fire goes!" Florence urged, guiding Emma into the Dolphin. Sophia was the last one down, slamming the hatch shut behind her.

Emma climbed back into the safety of Sophia's arms as the Dolphin flew up and away. Sophia carried her out onto the couch, where they sat down. Liana came and poked her head in.

"Who are you?" Emma asked. Liana beamed.

"My name is Liana! You must be Emma, right?" Liana told her. Emma bobbed her head. "Let me know if you want anything to eat. I can whip you up anything you want, anytime you want it!"

"Do I get that offer?" Sophia teased.

"No! I know you too well, and you can make it yourself!" Liana called, heading down to her lair. Emma had a shadow of a smile on her face.

"Now, Emma, what did they tell you aside from your new name?" Sophia asked gently.

"0023 is coming back with 0022," Emma said, eyes large and unseeing.

"Okay. You stay right here," Sophia told her. Emma sat obediently, clinging to her teddy bear.

"Give us back 0021!" 0022's voice shouted. Sophia knew it automatically as his voice. This evil punk was the reason her cousin couldn't live a normal life. He was the one who destroyed Emma Jessica Hashe's future.

"You don't own her!" Sophia screamed, picking up a lead pipe and hurling it at him. "No one owns her! Emma may be little, but she's who she wants to be!"

"You tell 'em, Sophia!" Julia cheered. She tugged on the steel boots and watched 0022's moves. Equally, he watched Julia with her metal tipped boots. As if 0022 was a rock, Julia took off at him and vaulted over, keeping her body in a tight ball. When she uncurled, she kicked an unaware 0022 right where it hurt again.

"You metal _idiot!_" 0023 shrieked. "You can do better than that!"

"Sure I can!" He yelled back. "I'm just too good to do it! Get your butt down here, you _insolent fool_ and FINISH THEM OFF!"

Time seemed to stand completely still for a minute as Emma came dashing in. Emma drew back as she saw 0022 and 0023, but nonetheless went in. She caught sight of 001 and had a sudden crash down to who she was with.

(You're 001, aren't you?) She asked.

(Yes,) Ivan responded. Emma held his eyes in hers.

(Then you must have...no; they wouldn't have gotten to you yet. Supposedly, we are able to work in synchrony.) Emma said.

(I don't know. But we may as well give it a shot.) 001 said.

(And anyway, I'm not 0021. I'm 000.) Emma blurted. A small part of her arm flickered in and out of existence, then stopped after a minute or so. 001 felt something leave his body, and Emma burst into a confident smile and raised her hands, palms facing outward toward 0023.

"Farewell, 0023!" Emma shouted, beams of spectral light erupting from her fingertips and heading at 0022 and 0023. In moments, their images faded away. Ivan felt the missing piece return as Emma beamed at him. The small girl gave a little hop and threw a victory punch.

"Big things most definitely come in small packages!" Julia cheered, doing a cartwheel. "Emma, you are the most rock 'em sock 'em little chicka I know!"

"Ah, so you are Sophia's cousin," Issac said, meandering into the control room. "Emma Jessica Hashe, age seven and one-half. Tell me, child, did you meet anyone while you were alone at Sophia's home?"

"I can tell you what you're going to ask, but it'll be a waste of time. Yes, I was given a broad range of abilities ranging from elemental control to physic powers that only one other has," Emma said, looking fixedly at Ivan.

"So, you _are_..." Issac began.

"Alias 0021, but I was the first of the megas series. They named me 0021 in their cyborg project and 000 in their megas project." Emma finished.

-&-&-&-

Later at dinner, Issac was talking up the advantages of invading Black Ghost and was proving to be like a lead balloon. Sophia and Florence were talking up the prospect of having to face their fear before they went in.

"I agree with them," Emma said from a small corner. "You all have at least one disadvantage with you. Getting over it will enable you to go off on your own, or divide and conquer."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Celeste declared.

The Dolphin had returned to traveling through the seas. At that point, they were surfaced on a brilliant starry night in the Atlantic Ocean. Celeste was trying to get out to look at the stars, but she had to do dishes.

"Liana, please? How many nights do I ever get to do this?" Celeste pouted. Then, she bolted away up the ladder and out the hatch. Slamming the hatch shut, she sat down on top of it, ignoring the discontent of Liana.

It was one of those 'Kodak Moments for People without a Kodak Camera'. There was a huge full moon hanging in the sky with a deep indigo backdrop. Silver stars flecked the sky, leaving barely any room for the beautiful indigo to peep through. Celeste laid back, letting her senses slip. Nothing was more pleasant than this.

A cold, wet drop plinked Celeste's forehead five minutes later. Soon after, ten, then hundreds, and then, "Dude, why right now? That was the best view I ever had!" So with that, the glum Celeste dropped back down inside to shelter from the rain.

"Celeste? Is it raining?" Julia demanded, jumping in front of Celeste. Celeste grinned and Julia scrambled up the ladder.

"No getting yourself sick up there!" Issac called. Julia frowned.

"Be that way! I promise I won't!" Julia shouted back. She popped her head out. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but there were gales and gales of rain. "Dreams do come true!"

-&-&-&-

Emma was sleeping soundly on the couch, giving her poor stuffed animal the death grip. Sophia had her own head lid back onto a pillow, slowly dozing off next to her cyborg cousin.

A drenched Julia half-slid and half-climbed down the ladder. She was shivering with chill, but was positively glowing.

"Seriously, Julia, be glad you didn't freeze up there. Grandpa said that he could hear you singing up there." Florence commented, "And there wasn't a single cloud."

"Yes, after ten minutes there were. I have no idea how, though." Julia returned.

Without knowing why, Florence looked at the slumbering Emma. _Is it even remotely possible that this girl is...no way. She's a spy like my dad! How could she be causing this storm? It doesn't make any sense. Today was a gorgeous day. Why would there be rain? Nothing adds up._

Florence had just hit the nail on the head.

Emma Hashe was 0021, the cyborg.

-&-&-&-&-

:falls over: That was my longest chapter EVER! Man, I kept sneaking into my garage to write late at night when I was supposed to be asleep. This chapter is dedicated to Rose, for letting me use Emma Hashe. Emma Hashe is her pen name, so that's why I dedicate this long chapter to her. On Microsoft Word, this thing is 16 pages! Believe me or not, but it is. Crazy...

I have come up with something! When the song says "Saints, captive in chains", Sophia has pillows thrown at her. Why Sophia? HINT: Sophia's full name is Sophia Christina Britain. This is open to anybody! Everyone who gets the correct answer gets to request a plushie! (HELLO: try taking letters out and even words. Use alternative spellings!)

If that is too hard for you, I have an alternative. What does 'Celeste' mean? Winners will also receive a plushie of your choice. **You can only enter one answer. Make it count by doing what you know! **

Have fun! Keep reviewing! Tell a friend to flame me! I love flames! Thank you to Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan and ceestar! You two are the ultimate reviewers! Keep it up!

"You aren't a kitty. You're a MUTANT KITTY FROM PLANET CARTOUCHE!"


	4. Auntie Jet

OH MY GAWD! I got .hackLegend of the Twilight volume 3 a few nights ago! :falls over at Zefie and Aura: The end was just so sad and yet so beautiful! And seeing all the characters in the real world was too much for me. I cried. I really did. The end of the .hack series was not really the end. I read it twenty times even though it is over 300 pages long! I love it!

Onto bigger and better things. The reason Sophia got pillows thrown at her was because (here's the giveaway in her name) she was a Roman Saint, Santa Sofia! Sofia Christian! Christianity was one of the religions that Sofia was a saint in, so _that's_ why. The people who won this were...well, none! You didn't even try...:runs away to brood:

Celeste's full name is Celeste Maria. 'Celeste' actually means 'Heavenly', so it's Heavenly Maria. Both her parents are religious, so there's my logical reasoning. (Note: Mika is obsessed with name origins) I hope that makes sense! Winners: none, but honorable mention goes to ceestar for making a very good guess! :hands ceestar a Celeste plushie:

The Cyborg Children and Emma are copyrighted to Mika, Rose, Sadie, and Beta Boy Joe. Stealing them will result in listening to Britney Speared Federline for a week. Please, people, we worked forever on their stories. Don't steal!

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Four: Auntie Jet

"You could have picked a _nice_ day to do this," Sophia grumped into a small microphone. "Come out in the freezing rain and hail then tell me how much this means."

"I'm sorry!" Liana wailed at the other end. "The weatherman said that it would be a nice day!"

Sophia was in Hong Kong at the current moment, tracking down a strong signal. The streets, although well frozen, were thronged with people. Liana was giving directions through a small ear piece in Sophia's ear, and all Sophia could do was keep her fury to herself for having to go into a packed city.

"You've had that man behind you following for a while now," Liana said. Sophia was wearing contact lenses, which instead of helping her vision to perfection in 160-degrees, gave her 360 vision.

"Yeah," Sophia replied. "Shall I?"

"Don't see why not," Florence remarked. "Ask him why he's stalking you."

Sophia turned around to face a man in a black trenchcoat with a wide, black umbrella. He looked like the perfect spy: dark hair, ethnicity the same as the surrounding, and so on.

"Sir?" Sophia asked kindly. "I've seen you following me for quite a while. What seems to be the matter? Have I dropped something?" Her confused little girl act was going over quite well.

"No, miss. I think we are headed for the same destination." He said.

"You've got our man," Florence said, "Kevin Chen, age 34. Loyal agent for over ten years. Sick man, if you ask me."

"Oh," Sophia sighed. "Then maybe we could walk together?" This guy was eating out of Sophia's hand. Apparently, Mister Chen was not a very bright person.

"Maybe you could tell me your name? Then we could host a better conversation," He returned.

"Tell him your name is Florence...Link." Florence shot into her speaker.

"WHAT?" Julia blared.

"Shhh!" Six voices hissed.

"I'm Florence Link," Sophia said gently. "Now, what's your name?"

"Says here that you're Sophia Christina Britain." Mr. Chen said. Sophia frowned.

"And how exactly do you know my name?" Sophia demanded. All she wanted to do was to throw this guy over her shoulder onto the slick ground. "Mister Kevin Chen?"

He came full on to attack her, but Sophia had already anticipated its arrival. Quickly, she grabbed his outstretched hands and using his momentum, lifted him upward. It took all her strength to stop the momentum, but she did, and when she did, he slammed onto the icy ground with a sickening CRUNCH of body meeting concrete.

"Don't mess with me," Sophia said, "Where is Black Ghost?"

"I am your signal," Kevin replied.

"He's not lying. Come back to the dock," Angelina said through her connection. "We're waiting."

The captured cyborgs had witnessed Sophia give a Black Ghost employee a full on slammer. GB and Amanda were proud of their daughter.

"He was a false lead, though." Albert said. "None of them realized it until it was too late to turn around. No matter, though. I'm sure he's got loads of others waiting to be hunted down."

0022 burst into the room. Several pairs of eyes turned to look at him as he entered, wondering what news he brought this time.

"Good news!" He shouted. "They're hopelessly lost!"

"That's nice," Jet spat.

"I get to go out on the next one!" Julia promptly declared as Sophia returned.

"The next one is in Germany," Florence whispered. "I'm going out on that one."

Emma was sprawled out on the couch, sound asleep. Sophia brushed the hair out of Emma's face, but Emma seemed to jerk away.

"We won't be there for another day of so going by sea," Ivan said. "You can work it out in that time."

"Why can't we fly?" Julia asked.

"Does it look very safe?" Ivan asked.

"No..." Julia said. "But it looks fun!"

Sophia laughed and took the lenses out. Next, she removed her speaker and then out came the earpiece. The others had made sure to keep her in contact, so Angelina had rigged a small tracking device in a pen to keep track of Sophia in the packed streets.

Julia had decided a day ago to try and style her hair the way her father did. She slipped out to the bathroom, where all the hair gel was stashed. Locking the door with a small _click_, she opened a closet and pulled out five tubes of the liquid. Her face had the same face as her father, all but her sharp green eyes.

"Well, I'm doing this for you, daddy!" Julia whispered, squeezing hair gel onto her hands. She teased a few of the front locks into a spike, which held for thirty seconds. "This may take quite a while,"

Two hours later, Julia emerged from the bathroom with her hair sticking out just like her father's did. She laughed because of the lack of hair around her face. It was nice to not worry about your hair falling in something.

"002?" Ivan asked, shocked. Julia turned around to face Ivan. Their startled eyes met, and Ivan laughed in spite of himself. "Julia, how long did it take you to do that to your hair?"

"Ivan! Don't tell _anyone_!" Julia squeaked. "My hair took me two hours and seven tubes of gel. All I'm worried about now is how I'm going to sleep tonight."

Ivan laughed at Julia's creativity. She wasn't all guts. She had her brains stored away for safekeeping, for the time she needed them.

Julia slid down the hallway into the living room, where Emma was _still_ conked out on the couch. The child was an enigma. Sophia was sitting quietly, knitting something or other.

"Hello, Uncle Jet." Sophia said, without looking up. Julia was ready to keel over on top of Emma with laughter. "Wait a second..." Sophia looked up. Julia turned around just in time to avoid her little button nose and green eyes.

Sophia noticed something quite different about her uncle. He was a lot less angular than he looked in this lighting. She looked at his shadow. Nothing _seemed_ different, but everything _was_ different at the same time. Sophia wanted to scream in frustration. It was crazy to think a person could look the same and different, as here she was proving it an oxymoron.

"And if she was to move it, she wouldn't. If she was to steal, she would steal. The world was her playtoy, her ragdoll. Whenever she wanted diamonds, she got herself diamonds. And when she wanted something done right, she did it by _herself_, 0022." 0023 said, toying with a champagne glass. She looked at 0022 and crushed the glass in her palm, trying to let out some anger.

"I can see where you're headed, you airhead. Dreaming is not going to help us right now to get them. You need to get your head out of the clouds _right now_." 0022 replied, holding the largest fragment to his eye. "If I recall correctly, you used to be quite the thief. That's why you were hired."

"Shut up, 0022!" 0023 screamed, tears welling in her eyes. "That's my part of my life that no one will ever steal!"

"You aren't supposed to have emotion. You're a killing machine now. A _heartless_ killing machine." 0022 said.

"Florence, is that you singing?" Liana asked. Florence turned crimson.

"Yes," Florence softly answered. "Sorry to bug you."

"Non, non! Keep singing! You have a lovely voice, silly!" Celeste shouted, smiling broadly from the loving room. "So do you, Julia! Come out of hiding!"

By this time, everyone had discovered that Julia had simply re-done her hairstyle. Sure, Julia had been upset, but she'd managed to stay in good humor about it.

Florence's voice was enough to make you give up living and listen to her sing for the rest of eternity. If she were to play piano at the same time, you would think that she'd descended from the heavens.

"Oh, come on. I still am practicing for another recital," Florence mumbled.

"How many of these do you do?" Julia asked.

"One recital per month, switching between vocal and piano," Florence replied. "And I hardly get the chance to do extracurricular activities because of music. My friends are pretty great, sticking beside me while I'm shoving my schedule together. I walk into walls almost every night,"

"That would explain that odd lump of the back of your head, yes." Emma said, pushing herself upright. "Sophie, how long was that?"

"A few days, you silly little bandit." Sophia replied, hitting the unaware Emma with a pillow on the head.

Or she _would_ have hit Emma, had it not been for a periwinkle forcefield that surrounded the little girl. Emma sat beneath the glowing periwinkle, hands held up and spread apart.

"We need to get moving," Emma said. "0022 and 0023 are going to come back and try and get me again."

"Emma, why do they want you so badly?" Liana asked.

Emma's tiny frame swirled. First, her little arms grew longer. They were slender, and then came her tiny legs growing long and elegant. Next was her face and hair. The short hair grew about an inch, and curled less.

"Um." Was all that Sophia could manage. Emma smiled.

"Don't worry. It's just a reconstruction of my body. Now, after 0022 and 0023 are gone, I can tell you why I'm wanted over the world." Emma said. "I'm still just a little girl inside. Black Ghost isn't _that_ advanced quite yet."

"Emma...Emma...nooooo!" Amanda wailed. Having your only child missing and one of your nieces turned metallic was a hard blow to stand up against. What she needed was someone to save her, someone to wake her up from this dream.

Chang was beginning to go mental. Every few seconds, he would start to ramble of the indigents to some dish.

No one was very happy. It was bust or break.

"I NEED A HEROOOO!" Celeste sang, hitting the last note. A tiny floating silver disk imploded as she did so.

"And that takes care of our spy problem," Julia proclaimed. "Those little things are weird. Maybe I should get some so I can tell when my dad's going to sneak up on me!"

Emma and Ivan were destroying the real trouble in the control room. Once the tiny disks were eliminated, the girls ran to watch. It was impressive to watch Emma somersault, sit up and knock a good blow in someone's knees. Ivan was waiting for her to ask for energy again.

(Ivan! This time you need to help more!) Emma's voice rang.

(What? Just go whenever you feel like,) The teenager replied.

(No! I mean that we have to work back to back! Trust me, you'll know what to do!) Emma cried, jumping to avoid a bullet. Ivan ran to her, linked his arms with hers and waited for something to happen.

Something happened, oh yeah. Ivan found himself with fire at his fingertips and Emma with teleportation. Slowly, Emma grabbed his hand and interlocked his fingers with her own. A glowing white sphere shot up around the two cyborgs as 0022 and 0023 fired openly.

(Are you ready?) Emma asked mentally. Ivan gave her a confused, but positive, look. (I know what your weakness is. Don't worry. _We_, together, have no weakness.)

The sphere blazed the color of fire. Then both came to realize that it _was_ fire. Emma screamed, and water came like a tidal wave into the room. Plants grew from 0023's bodysuit. Emma lit her up like a Christmas tree, but 0022 had seen his opportunity and fired at Emma.

Ivan understood what was going on. Holding up his hands, the sphere sprung up once again to protect them. Emma blew ice from her fingers and was out, ready to go at the two older cyborgs.

(Emma, no!) Ivan called. It was useless. Emma was on the death trail, and there was no stopping her or getting in her way.

0022 and 0023 had tranquilizer darts ready to go. Sadly for them, Emma had her periwinkle forcefield up around her once more. 0023 leapt on top of it and tried to smash through. Emma looked up, winked, and turned the world to ice.

"Sir," A female's voice said, "They need backup."

"001, you are smarter than that. Act off instinct, my dear. Retrieve your little sister. Don't trust those fools to do it." Black Ghost sneered. The female nodded and vanished at a speed of mach 2.

"I love power!" She shouted, breaking through a wall.

"Emma! Emma! Talk to me!" Ivan ordered. Emma was curled into a ball, whiter than the white world she had created. Slowly, she shook her head.

"No more of this 'little kid' bull crud!" Julia hollered. She pounded the door down and walked inside. "You need help, Ivan. C'mon, Emma. Let's get out of here and send Sophia and the others in."

Emma returned to her normal size and slowly stood up. Julia lifted the small girl into her arms, where Emma sighed into the American's shoulder. Emma wrapped her arms and legs around Julia and they were off.

"You can go back to sleep if you feel like it," Julia said, opening the door to her room "Feel free to use any of my stuff. I'll go get your bear. No worries, your cousins are taking care of 0022 and 0023."

"It isn't 0022 and 0023 I'm worried about, Julia." Emma said in a tiny voice. "It's 001."

"What about 001? Isn't that Ivan?" Julia asked, sitting on the bed with Emma.

"No, it's 001 of the Megas Project. She's a really nice person, but chose the wrong way at the fork in the road." Emma explained. "And my teddy's already here."

With a tiny _pop_, the teddy dropped into Emma's arms. Julia smiled and left the room, ready to show why she was getting ready for second degree black belt.

"The world is white, the world is mine, the world is snow!" Celeste exclaimed. Liana threw her gun aside and picked up a handful of snow.

"Hey 0023, do you know what's cold and wet and white all over?" Liana demanded.

"I don't know. Tell me," 0023 commanded.

"You asked for it!" Liana shouted, hurtling a gigantic snowball at 0023's face. "Snowshoes: $120. Jacket: $200. Seeing 0023 get hit with a snowball in the face: PRICELESS!" ((copyright Visa.))

"Good call, Liana!" Angelina shouted, dusting snow off a computer.

"0022, why does Scrooge love reindeer?" Julia asked.

"This isn't time for jokes!" 0023 shrieked.

"Wrong!" Rene exclaimed, jumping 0022. "It's because every buck is dear to him!"

All the snow suddenly was swept away and replaced by the ordinary décor. Julia frowned and started to complain about how evil it was and how unfair it was about having only a few minutes, and fighting during those.

_Emma was in here when this started, and now she isn't. Is there some sort of link between her and this snow? It hasn't stopped raining yet, even though she's woken up. What I really don't get is how her and Ivan can work together. Am I missing something here? _Florence thought.

Ivan punched 0023, and something very abnormal occurred. She dissolved into thin air, along with 0022. Angelina looked around for any trace, but there was none.

That was how 001's work was done. Alone and well. It was a shame she had to kill 000, but it had to be done in order to eliminate any trace of a flaw.

Later, Emma tottered up to have dinner with her "family". Every so often, a flame would shoot from her arm or her hands would turn to gold. Snow had taken over for rain outside the Dolphin.

"Emma, are you in control of your power?" Ivan asked. Emma looked up from her food and gave him a look that couldn't be anything short of depression.

"I probably worked too hard earlier. Don't worry about me, please. And 001, come out here. Please, they won't hurt you. They're really nice people. Don't kill them." Emma said. Ivan's attention snapped to meet her. "No, Ivan, not you. Her. The 001 of the Megas Project."

Slowly, a twenty-something year old girl emerged from the kitchen. At first, only her layered black hair with red streaks and violet eyes were visible. Then her chest became visible, with its lime green tank top. Her lower half was last, with a miniskirt with various shades of green (ending in black) and black sneakers. She chewed a piece of green bubble gum and held a shiny black gun.

"000. It's nice to see you again," She said. She blew a bubble and popped it.

"001, the pleasure is all mine." Emma replied. "To whom do I owe this?"

"Thank those two fools in the Cyborg Project. Really, let's dance!" 001 said, flipping her hair back with her right hand. With the other hand, she fired at Emma.

"No way! This is my family!" Emma shouted. The periwinkle forcefield shot up around the table to protect everyone. 001 smirked at the little girl and fired more. Emma fought to hold it up longer.

"Are you giving up that easily, 0021?" 001 asked. Emma left the periwinkle forcefield up around her family and ran at a speed of mach 3 through the wall. 001 followed her at the same speed.

"I didn't know she could do _that_! Gilmore, did you?" Ivan demanded.

"What. The. Hell. IVAN WHISKEY, WHAT IS GOING ON? I'VE KNOWN YOU AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN ALIVE! WHAT IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW WITH EMMA? WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" Julia roared, coming quite close to knocking Ivan out cold.

"_Tell me what is going on with Emma or you will die on the spot you're sitting in, Ivan._" Sophia said, deep blue eyes blazing with fury.

"I'll tell you." Ivan replied.

"What's wrong with her?" Sophia asked.

"Black Ghost kidnapped her and turned her into a cyborg." Ivan told her.

"Oh my God...Emma...how could I?" Sophia wailed, crying into Angelina's shoulder.

"Come with me, 000, and I won't kill you and your friends!" 001 said, still in acceleration mode.

"NEVER!" Emma yelled. 001 tried to knock her off course, but it didn't work. "We can keep going until we get to Mars and I won't accept!"

001 tried once again. Of course, when there isn't any gravity, it doesn't work very well.

001 fired openly at Emma. Emma was running out of energy at a very fast rate, and only dodged half the bullets. She took the others in her arms and chest. 001 muttered something about loving herself and hating her job and caught Emma.

"Listen to me, Emma-chan. There isn't much time. Put up a damned forcefield and we'll go back to your ship," 001 said to Emma. Emma's eyes grew wide as she did as she was told.

"Why?" She asked.

"I'm not that inhumane. Just don't tell anyone I did this or I'm dead. The other 001...the one you live with...he'll know." 001 explained.

They flew through Earth's atmosphere with Emma bawling uncontrollably. 001 hugged the little girl one last time as they landed near the Dolphin.

"001! I won't forget this!" Emma whispered, for that was all she could muster.

Ivan climbed out of the Dolphin to see Emma dropping out of the white sky. She smiled at him and tried to stand on her own.

"Sophia! Come help me!" Ivan called down into the Dolphin. Sophia jumped to the top of the ladder with no hesitation. Upon seeing Emma, she bent down and hugged her cousin.

"Sophie!" Emma whispered. Sophia felt something warm and wet on her shirt.

It was blood.

Sophia was too upset to even cry. She was sitting on a bed in the infirmary, clinging to her cousin's hand. Emma's face was a deathly pale as she lay on the bed. After Emma had returned, all didn't go very well. Sophia had been told Emma had taken four bullets and probably wouldn't be able to see past the next day.

"Emma, why?" Sophia quietly scolded. Her dark blue eyes had turned from enraged to depressed.

Emma opened one eye, but only a sliver. "Reverse."

I'm really pleased with how this chapter turned out. I had a lot of problems on my computer today, and half this chapter got deleted! It was really hard to get it working again. Yesterday I saw The Incredibles, so that's how the forcefields came about.

Originally, I wasn't going to do this to Emma. But sometimes, I just feel the need to throw in a lot of drama. I have to have equally balanced humor and angst or I just turn everything into deep, deep drama. You wouldn't like that, would you?

Does anyone have the lyrics to "Holdin' out for a Hero"? I need them really badly and they would be appreciated! I will dedicate the chapter it is used in to you, and if I have multiples, everyone get credit! Either tell me the URL in your review or send them to me at.

This story will be ten to fifteen chapters, so keep with me for the wild ride! Love always and peace out!


	5. Emma Says

It is by now frozen here in California. Rain is all we get, and when there isn't rain, it's all cloudy! Julia would like this weather! I think I've watched Shrek 2 about twenty times, rewinding the Fairy Godmother singing about ten times per viewing. Even with subtitles, it is harder than heck to get the lyrics! Last chapter I asked for them, and you gave them to me! All who did will have an upcoming chapter dedicated to them!

I'm sorry if the Megas Project and the Cyborg Project are confusing. Emma is part of _both _projects, and the last to be so. Did you know that she was never supposed to even be in this story? Well, now she is! Julia was originally an artist, but was later changed to be more of a fighter. I have a ring with all this binder paper with one-shots and info on the girls. Beta Boy Joe keeps stealing it, though.

If I **did** own Cyborg 009, these chapters would be on instead of the episodes! Also note that I don't own the game Simon Says. There is so much I have yet to own and so little time...

Chapter five is dedicated to Julia-chan, who lets me use her name for this work.

This chapter is where the story really starts to get shadier. I was never here. :vanishes:

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Five: Emma Says

-&-&-&-&-

"Reverse," Emma breathed. The world spun and turned black. Emma dropped from the bed, no bullets in her chest. Next thing she knew, she was running against 001 again. 001 fired the eight bullets.

Emma dodged six of them this time. Time went back to its original flow as Emma returned to the infirmary bed with Sophia holding her hand.

"Sophia, you can leave. You're falling asleep, dear." Issac said. "I already told you there's a fine chance of her being up and running in a few days. Go settle down."

Only Emma understood what had happened. She had spun back time to change her low chance of survival. No one but herself knew that she'd ever taken four bullets. Inside her head, she smiled and drifted into a peaceful slumber.

-&-&-&-

The snow had returned to rain as the days dragged on. Julia was usually to be found (if they had surfaced) outside, playing in it. Sophia wasn't her usual 'Let's go out and kick 0023's butt' person. She had started wearing all black and taken to having stud cuffs on at all times.

"Sophie?" A little voice asked from behind Sophia.

"Stop it, Celeste." Sophia ordered. Emma crossed her arms and tackled Sophia with a hug instead. Sophia squirmed in Emma's grasp to see who was giving her the death grip.

"Did you miss me?" The little girl whispered. Sophia looked at her cousin and cried into the child's shoulder. "I missed you."

"Emma! Emma! Emmaaaaa!" Sophia cried, freeing the stud cuffs. "Oh, I thought I had it bad before! Emma, you're alive!"

"YO! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RAIN!" Julia demanded, hanging from the top of the ladder. Emma giggled.

"There is no need for it any more," Emma said. Issac walked in to see a Sophia without studs and a very alive Emma sitting on her.

"Ivan!" He called. "You had better come see this!"

Ivan came dashing in. Emma stood up and walked to hug him. "Thank you, Ivan."

"Why are you thanking me?" He asked her.

"You helped me, and for that I can't repay you." Emma responded.

-&-&-&-

By that night, the Dolphin had turned from the twilight zone to toontown. ((copyright Disney)) Liana was buzzing around the kitchen making several dishes at once. Her skirt had already caught fire twice, and was going for a third time.

Ivan and Emma were in a deep conversation. Ivan had figured it out how Sophia had gotten home, and she knew that he knew.

"Emma! I-kun! We're having dinner!" Celeste called from the kitchen.

"Who's I-kun?" Julia asked from the dining room. Liana was cursing in Mandarin at the stove, which had turned her skirt to ashes.

"Probably Celeste's nickname for Ivan?" Emma suggested. Sophia picked her up and swirled her around.

"We don't need anything else busted tonight," Liana remarked, setting plates down. "My skirt was enough for the next month!"

"We could have lost the bandit here," Sophia replied.

"Par-tay time!" Liana shouted, carrying an overly large cake in her arms. "I hope you all like chocolate!"

-&-&-&-

Sophia was running around, laughing like a maniac. Long after Sophia had scarfed four generous pieces of cake, Emma had told everyone that Sophia was prone to get sugar high. Shame, since Sophia had started just after that.

"She just sang my entire soundtrack of Card Captor Sakura...LIANA! HOW MUCH CHOCOLATE DID YOU PUT IN THAT FREAKING CAKE?" Celeste asked, chasing Sophia over the couch.

"I said STOP!" Emma shouted. "Emma says stop, and that's what the world will do. When Emma says stop, she means it."

Sophia was frozen in the middle of a jump. Celeste had her knees bent, ready to jump after Sophia.

Nothing was moving except Emma.

"Emma says go," Emma said. Sophia fell right down into the splits. "Now, Sophie, are you feeling well?"

"Why wouldn't...it was _chocolate_ cake?" Sophia asked. Ivan shot Emma a look that clearly read 'She's allergic to chocolate, isn't she?'

"Sadly enough, Ivan's right. Sophie is allergic to chocolate, and it's cold season. Yai!" Emma declared.

"I hate my allergies," Sophia grumbled, standing up. "Maybe I'm allergic to those stupid Black Ghost employees that keep bugging us."

"There's a thought," Angelina said. "I like that idea. But what are you allergic to, exactly?"

"You don't want to know how much junk I'm allergic to," Sophia sighed, sitting cross-legged on an armchair. "By tomorrow, my voice'll be gone and I'll be white all over. Yai is right, Emma."

-&-&-&-

001 was having the time of her life.

"You are going to get out, or be exterminated!" Sophia shouted.

"Interesting, I was thinking the same thing!" Celeste answered.

"SOPHIE!" Emma screamed. "EMMA SAYS STOP!"

Time froze with Sophia about to shoot and 001 getting ready to do the same. "Emma says go directly to jail,"

Everything took a big breath and moved again. Bars ringed the entire living room, Emma standing outside them.

"Can I still get out?" Sophia asked.

001 shot with a laser gun to try and break through the bars. Emma held out her hand and ice blew from it. 001 was a perfect ice sculpture in no time flat. Her violet eyes had frozen with rage swirling within them.

"Sophia Christina, I am going to hammer you into a bed and freeze you. You are _still_ reacting to the cake _and_ you've wound yourself up with a cold from being outside with Julia this morning. Really, you're lucky. Between Florence, Ivan, Issac and myself, you'd already be under lock and key." Emma said, hands on hips. Despite her small size, she turned out to be packing quite the punch.

"Too late for sorry?" Sophia pleaded. Emma crossed her arms.

"Emma says that you can move," Emma said reluctantly. "Sophie, you are going to get your bottom into the infirmary or be frozen." The bars disintegrated and Sophia made her way to the infirmary.

"Miss Liana?" Emma asked. "Would you kindly make us tea?"

"Of course! I'll serve it in here so everyone can get at it," Liana replied.

"I'll go to help you, Emma." Florence said.

-&-&-&-

I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you about Florence. Her full name is Florence Anne Heinrich, and as you know, she's fourteen. Her sun sign is Virgo, and her birthday is September 6. Florence's father, Albert Heinrich, never told her about his life before she was born.

Florence has always tried hard to succeed. When she turned five, she began to play piano as something special. By the time she was eight, she wanted to start taking vocal lessons in addition. At school, she strives to keep her grades and friends balanced. Music rules her life, so she never gets to do anything aside from it.

She cares about everyone and everything in her environment. She makes sure everything is in its place in the science lab, checks her friends' math homework, and even goes as far to ask if someone's feeling ill. Sometimes, all her worries for others catch up and attack her in the back.

Once she met her cousins, life changed. There was no more of the quiet, shy pianist. A whole new girl was born. Both personalities have finally clashed and created one heck of a person to be left alone with.

Except...

She has a slight problem.

-&-&-&-

"Really, I'm fine!" Sophia exclaimed.

"I know you aren't, Sophia. Stop your lying," Florence ordered. "You were coughing up a fit a minute ago."

"There's probably ragweed." Sophia stated. "Yes, I am allergic to ragweed. I'm probably allergic to blood. The question is what I'm _not _allergic to."

Florence gagged at the mere thought of blood. The smell was hideous, the sight almost always made people cry, and it was sticky and smearable. Florence hated it, no matter how much she needed it to live. It was fine, as long as it never surfaced. She worshiped black and blue marks over the sight of all the red.

"Are you ill also, Florence?" Ivan asked. Florence looked at him with her large, silvery-blue eyes.

"No, I'm fine." She lied, smiling. "I just don't like blood."

"For some reason, I don't believe you." Emma said, standing on her toes. Even still, she only stood a little over a foot under Florence's height. "And this is just not working for me."

The little girl jumped onto Sophia's lap and continued to feel Florence's forehead from there. Florence giggled, and that giggle turned into a full-blown laugh. She was doubled over in laughter with Issac, Ivan, Sophia and Emma watching her carefully. Tears rained her face as she sat down, clinging to her stomach.

"Thank you, Emma," She finally said.

-&-&-&-

"DEAD BEAT FREEZE!" Emma shouted, pinning Sophia onto the bed for good with her ice. "That should be good for right now, but I don't know how long it will work. Dead beat freeze is what they trained me to use when I got desperate."

"That's what they called it, ne?" Celeste asked. "I would call it death by ice."

"You _can_ warm this up, can't you?" Sophia asked, fighting her frozen bonds. "They're freezing me. Can I at least go take a hot shower?"

"You are _not_ leaving this room again, Sophia. Last time, 001 showed up and you were out there fighting with the rest of us. No way, not again." Florence replied.

"Oh, that idiot woman has such perfect timing," Emma muttered. She walked out of the room and disappeared to some other destination.

"I have this funny feeling that Emma's talking about either 0023 or 001," Ivan said.

"NO WAY! 000, THEY DIDN'T TELL ME IT WAS YOU!" A loud voice rang, leaving a shattering silence. "How's it going for you, ya little can of cola?"

Sophia was freed of the ice, and as soon as she was, ran to help her cousin. Florence, Celeste and Ivan followed about a second behind her.

"All I can say is _wow,_" Sophia said, looking into the living room.

She had a very good reason to. There was a possibly seventeen-year-old girl with shoulder-length seafoam-green hair and yellow eyes. ((A/N: this is possible to do!)) She wore a blue tank top with striped blue arm warmers starting at her elbows. Her lower half bore a tiny pair of denim shorts and a significantly raised pair of sandals. In her left hand was a blue, spray painted, gun.

"You didn't bring 001, 0023 and 0022 with you, 002? I'm shocked," Emma said. The woman laughed and hugged Emma.

"Oh, they wanted to come. After boss-man heard about what 001 did, she's outta shopping for a few months, so I get to come for her! Shall we, 000?" She asked.

"No way. Emma says no," Emma responded.

"Hpmh, be that way. Now, let me fight your friends!" She answered, firing her gun.

"You really want to try doing that?" Florence demanded. "I think you're pretty gutsy to try it. Julia, would you do the honors?"

"I'd be honored, madam!" Julia exclaimed, jumping off a table to get the perfect kick on 002's head.

"001 wasn't kidding when she said you were fools," 002 said. "000 is the smartest of you here."

Sophia was down at the end of the hall, waiting until the path was clear.

The opportunity struck. Sophia ran at full speed halfway down the hall, then skipped and rolled out five handsprings. 002 took three of them, but tried to evade the other two.

"What do you think of them _now_, 002?" Emma asked. (Ivan, are you ready?)

(Yes,) Came the reply.

The funny feeling of your stomach dropping out came over Ivan as Emma drew power once more. 002 smirked.

"002 says stop," 002 said.

The world turned to ice and snow, thanks in a large part to Emma intervening.

"000, I knew you would do that, so I came with the backup squad!" 002 exclaimed. "Meet the rest of the project!"

"You mean the ones that have KRAD written all over?" Celeste asked.

"Hey, we heard that!" A young girl's voice shouted.

"No, no! EMMA SAYS FREEZE!" Emma shrieked. Everything froze, as commanded. "Good. Emma says go directly to jail."

Bars grew like vines around the frozen beings. Emma sighed. "Emma says that the rest of the Megas Project needs to go home."

She held her arms out, and her palms facing forward, and the beams of spectral light forced the Megas Project away.

"Now, Emma says go." Emma said. The bars shattered into billions of fragments and the ice melted. "I apologize. It's a wonder how they got smarter people for the earlier project and absolute dumbbells for this project."

"What exactly _is_ the Megas Project?" Liana asked.

-&-&-&-

"The Megas Project began about a year ago with myself, when I visited Sophie's house. They came, dressed like my parents, and swept me away. My parents had no idea, because Sophie always drives me home. Three weeks later, they drove me home, dressed as Sophie and her family. I couldn't tell my parents." Emma explained, drinking tea as if there was no tomorrow.

"When I visited Sophie's house this year, they took me away again. This time, I was introduced to 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008, and 009 of the Megas Project. I even met the original members of the Cyborg Project, but they forbid me to tell you who they were. Anyway, the new 003 was a guy, and all the rest of the team were girls.

"Back to what the Megas Project is. The Cyborg Project, which I am also a member of, was just granting each cyborg a specific ability, and leave you to live your life. But in the Megas Project, they cram you full of whatever they can. At first, I was dubbed 0021 in the Cyborg project with only the power of ice, and then they started piling everything on. 000 came after that, and so ushered in the Megas era. For example, I have over seventy abilities, but unlock them all at different times. Like I can play 'Emma Says'. None of the others can play it, not even 002, although they try."

She drained her tea and poured herself more. "The original cyborgs...you all know them, but don't understand yet."

Sophia sipped her tea. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"If she didn't tell her parents, was she going to tell you?" Julia demanded.

"Oh..." Sophia said, then let out a wrenching cough. "They didn't give you healing anywhere in the package?"

"They did, but it doesn't work. I tried," Emma replied.

Ivan took some time to take Emma in. As a matter of fact, he was still taking the little girl into his system. She, like himself, hadn't chosen her path. But why such a young girl? She was a kind, warm presence, but at the same time, harsh and cold. At the time he had robbed her of her life, she was only six.

"Ivan, I heard that. Don't think about that." Emma snapped.

"I'm going to go take that shower now," Sophia announced.

-&-&-&-

Florence sighed. Night had come once more, and she was far from home. She let her hair out if its braid to sail in the wind.

Fluid friction, she mused.

Sighing deeply, she looked into the night sky. There was a crescent moon out tonight, but there were no stars. It was starless...starless...

Florence closed her eyes and leaned back. There was something much deeper than illness rioting inside her body. Mixed emotions of joy and grief swirled through her head, like fish in a koi pond. She was happy because she finally got to travel the world, and depressed for the very same reason.

"Hi, Florence," Celeste said, joining Florence.

"Oh...hello, Celeste." Florence answered without budging.

Celeste looked into the starless sky. As beautiful as it was, it was upsetting to look at it like this. She drew a long breath and looked at her older cousin. Florence looked so peaceful, just watching time go by. Her head was propped up on her crossed arms, and her hair was wavy and spread in every which way.

"Hey, Florence, what's up?" Celeste asked.

No reply came from Florence.

"Florence?" Celeste asked again. "Hello?" Celeste crept over to where Florence was. Florence's eyes were shut, and her breath was shallow.

"Another one of those problems with KUSO written all over it!" Celeste shouted.

Sophia had just gotten out of the shower when she heard Celeste's yelling. Quickly, she tugged on her pajamas and climbed the ladder to see what Celeste needed.

"Get Ivan!" Celeste shouted down. Sophia looked up into the aquamarine eyes. She took off at a sprint, even though it set her lungs on fire.

"Celeste...needs you...don't know why..." Sophia panted as she reached Ivan. He took one look at her and bolted the same way Sophia had come.

"Ivan!" Celeste called. Ivan climbed the ladder as fast as he could and saw why she was yelling.

(Emma, Florence has passed out up here.) Ivan said.

(Seems like Sophie isn't the only one,) The little girl responded. (Step away, then. This won't take long. Ivan, you may want to get back down.)

Not long after the boy did, Florence dropped into his arms. She felt warm in his arms, and turned abruptly. Ivan carried the girl off toward the infirmary with Celeste on his tail, eager to help.

Once they arrived, Celeste remained outside. _It's bad enough missing my home...now two of my cousins are sick. This is _awful_. I'm wound up in the middle of this, and no one wants to step up and lead...I know! I'll lead...just so we don't always have to be confused. Yeah! _

"Grandpa!" Celeste ran away shouting. "I need your help!"

"What is it, dear?" Issac asked.

"Sophia and Florence! Something's happened to them, and they're both in the infirmary! I don't know what it is, but it looks like..." Celeste said. Before she could finish, Issac was already gone.

-&-&-&-

Florence woke up the next morning with her head spinning. She saw Celeste asleep with her head on the cot, clutching a thermometer.

_That's funny, _Florence thought, _I can't remember being sick. All I remember is last night when Celeste said hello. _She placed a hand on Celeste's forehead. It felt fine. Then, Florence placed a hand on her own forehead. She didn't even need to. The heat radiated from it an inch away.

Celeste began to stir. When she saw Florence's eyes open, she sat up and brushed herself off. Florence laughed at Celeste.

"Florence! I...we...what happened?" Celeste asked.

"I don't know," Florence answered. "I was hoping you could tell me the same thing."

"Miss Florence, you're awake!" Emma exclaimed, walking into the infirmary. She jumped onto the bed and sat next to Florence. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Quite frankly, Emma, I don't really know what's going on. I remember waking up extremely dizzy, but not very much else." Florence said.

"Yai...no knowing of what happened at all. Goodness, we can only hope that Sophie wakes up soon." Emma stated, looking over to another cot.

Sophia was lying there, breathing rapidly and sweating bullets. Celeste rose and went to wipe Sophia's forehead off.

"I'm going to try one last thing," Emma said. "Don't interfere or it could go horribly wrong." With this, she jumped over onto Sophia's bed and sat on Sophia's chest.

Emma placed her hands on Sophia's forehead. A faint periwinkle light was flickering on and off under her hands. Emma leaned forward, and the light burst into a brilliant, gorgeous blaze. Sophia writhed under Emma's control, but Emma didn't mind. This _had_ to be done, or it was loose Sophie.

(IVAN!) Emma called. (I need power, and in the worst way!) She screamed in pain, but didn't break her concentration on Sophia.

(Go ahead, and hurry!) He answered. She freeloaded it off him and kept diving down further to grab Sophia.

_Where am I?_ The unconscious Sophia asked within her mind. Periwinkle light blazed in every direction she turned her head. _I don't fell very well. And what is _that?

She was referring to Emma, running toward her.

_Sophie! You need to come with me!_ Emma screamed.

_But why? It's lovely here,_ Sophia responded.

_NO! _Emma grabbed Sophia's hand._ You're dying from a fever, Sophia Christina Britain. _

_I'm not coming, Emma. I love it here. _Sophia answered, yanking her hand away.

_That's **it**! _Emma yelled, burning the same color as her eyes. She seized Sophia's hand and jumped upwards.

They were back outside again. Sophia was sitting up, wide awake, struggling to remain that way. Emma held Sophia's head, and then let go to hug her.

"You do that to me again, and you can ask someone else." Emma said, fainting.

-&-&-&-

In the events that followed, Ivan came rushing in to see what had happened. He found two girls, both half-alive. Florence and Celeste tried to help as best they could, but eventually had to leave.

Issac and Ivan stayed in there until seven o'clock that evening, when Celeste burst in, trembling with apprehension.

"They'll be fine, Celeste." Ivan told her. She took a deep breath of relief.

"Grandpa...Ivan..." Celeste cried. She hugged them with everything she could muster, which wasn't very much.

"I understand, dear. You need rest as much as they do. Go sleep," Issac said. Celeste was quick to follow it.

(Ivan?) Emma's voice asked in Ivan's head.

(You shouldn't be doing this, you know.) He answered.

(I know.)

(They why are you doing it?)

(Because this makes twice you've saved my life.)

(You saved her life.)

(I know.)

(You must have your limit, too,)

(I do, but I don't know when to stop. Sophie is my only cousin. What choice did I have? I know you would do the same, Ivan Whiskey.)

(You're right.)

Ivan smiled at Emma. Without knowing she did, she smiled back.

-&-&-&-&-

I thought that chapter came out exceptionally! It took me a long time to do, but it is here!

Nothing is going on between Ivan and Emma. And yes, V-Gal, 006 had a child! I printed out the first three chapters and have them on a loose-leaf binder ring that I loan to my friends to read. It is heavy to carry around, but doing it is fun! The real Julia started beaming at me when she saw her name. I seriously started thinking how much I should do a sequel.

But I'm NOT GOING TO DO ONE. When I do sequels that aren't really planned, they come out bad and I have to go over and do them again. So no, there's just this plain and simple story.

:hands out commerative Emma plushies: Keep up the great reviewing! Tell a friend! You shall be rewarded for your hard work!

. o O the bubble corporation O o . ((owned by Mika, aka sudzie))


	6. WannaBe

Hello to everyone else out there! I hope you've gotten more people on board, cause this is the last stop we're making! As promised, there will be the best of gender-bending going on, 004 wearing highlighter yellow, and 003 as a...guy? Well, yeah! What would a story by Mika be without tying people in knots?

:scribbles on the screen: I'm glad we had this opportunity to speak about such an important matter.

I own Cyborg 009 and the program WANNA-BE from (Cyber Idol) Mink. :snorts:

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Six: Wanna-Be

-&-&-&-&-

Celeste was making breakfast that morning. She was pretty good at cooking, but nowhere near as good as Liana was.

So she simply made scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon and had cereal on hand.

"Good morning!" Julia exclaimed, still in her glasses. Nobody replied. "I'm glad to see how CHEERFUL you all are this morning! And where's Rene?"

Rene happened to be out on the top, painting the clouds. They were beautiful with all their shades of white, gray, blue and purple. It was so easy to paint, so easy to find inspiration, and so easy to get away...

"RENE!" Celeste shouted, opening the hatch. Forget an easy getaway. Rene jumped.

"Celeste! How...um...did you know I was...here?" Rene asked, gathering the paints and easel.

"Breakfast, silly!" Celeste answered, doing a cartwheel. She spotted Rene's painting. "Wow. Rene, how long have you been doing this?"

"Since Sophia hasn't been around," She explained. "It's going to rain soon. We should get back down."

Sure enough, as soon as the words were off Rene's tongue, rain came from the clouds like confetti.

-&-&-&-

"Right hand red!" Julia laughed. Liana, Celeste, Rene, Angelina, Florence and Ivan struggled to follow the spinner's command, but tied themselves further into a knot on the Twister mat.

Florence tumbled over laughing, but as tied together as they all were, didn't need to bother trying. Celeste had bent herself over backward underneath Florence, with Rene and Angelina tied beneath Florence's arms. Julia flicked the tell-all spinner once again to determine the new twist.

"Left foot green!" Julia exclaimed. This time, Ivan slid and fell face-first onto the plastic.

"OWW! Jeez!" Celeste giggled, falling on top of him. Several other comments like hers were heard as the knot slowly broke apart and tumbled down. Julia fell over in the chair she was sitting in, she was laughing so hard.

"Your turn, Julia! I get to be spinner now!" Florence laughed, lifting herself upward into the chair. "Good luck!"

Julia tugged her shoes off and slid around on the mat a little. Florence flicked the spinner to start it off. "Left foot blue."

"I'd be obliged!" A boy's voice shouted. The next minute, there was a guy standing on the Twister mat with a girl wearing highlighter yellow.

"001, wow, how long has it been?" The girl asked. Her hair was the color of dust, and her eyes were a lovely shade of turquoise. She wore, as I said, a t-shirt the color of a yellow highlighter and a matching knee-length skirt. Her socks were an eye-smarting shade of green, and her rag-tag shoes were shocking pink. She couldn't have been any older than thirteen.

"Do I know you?" Ivan asked.

"Yeah, where's 000?" The boy asked. His outfit was a red sweatshirt, dark blue jeans with chains hanging off them, mousy dark brown hair and matching eyes. Julia's best guess at his age was sixteen. "We were ordered to bring her back with us."

"Sorry! She's not here right now, so leave a message after I curse at you!" Julia shouted.

"I'll go do it, 003." The girl told the boy. He nodded and took a fighting stance.

"004, be careful to do it," He warned.

"He's right, you know, 004. You shouldn't be running down after me when you know I'm not here," Emma said, dropping (literally) from the sky.

"000! Nice to see you again!" 003 said. Emma greeted him with her ice.

"Ivan, meet 003 and 004." Emma said, miserably pointing. "And this isn't me. You all know that I'm gone?" She added with a tremendous wink.

"It ain't jazz if it ain't got that swing," 004 sang.

"No, Emma says stop!" Emma cried. 004 obediently stopped.

"009 told me to say hi for her, since the pinkie herself couldn't come until it was her turn." 004 said, stepping closer to Emma. "Pinkie says that she misses you. She even got mad because 001 got so much time."

004 held out her palms toward Emma. Emma placed her own palms on 004's, and they smiled at one another.

"Whoa there, Emma!" Sophia shouted, power-walking as fast as she could. "What on _Earth_ are you _doing_?"

"Trust me," Emma said.

-&-&-&-

"Yellow. I could not have picked a better color myself," Jet mused, still captive. "Nice color choice. It looks like someone had an incident with their highlighters, huh, Albert?"

"I wouldn't be talking, Jet." The German replied. "Last time I looked, you dyed your hair seafoam green and wore sandals."

"They made the opposites," Joe thought aloud. "We all know what we'd never wear outside. Maybe Jet dyed his hair orange for all we know. I doubt he did, and I doubt Francoise here is a guy."

(That's so stupid, Mister Joe, it's almost funny.) A very young girl's voice rang in the cyborg's heads.

(Who are you?) Albert demanded of her. They could hear her giggle.

(Don't worry. You've met me once before, earlier, Mister Albert.) She replied.

-&-&-&-

The two cyborgs back on the Dolphin broke their connection and stepped away from one another, and drew their guns.

"Emma says..." Emma started. 003 and 004 started firing before she could get out the last of it.

Florence was already ready to take them down. She grabbed a frying pan and managed to get behind 003.

Right as Emma fired at 004, Florence swung the frying pan like a baseball bat. She was satisfied when 003 fell to the ground.

"Nice one!" Julia shouted. Florence accepted the compliment and got ready for 004 to come running.

Sure enough, it was hard to miss 004. But then something went wrong.

She vanished.

"I'll chase her," Emma said. Without a second thought, she charged around in mach 3, looking for 004.

"Florence! Get ready!" Emma called.

Florence held the frying pan in front of her at full arm's length. She wasn't a moment too soon. 004 rammed head-on into the pan, leaving an impressive impression. ((A/N: haha, alliteration!)) Emma stopped about a nanosecond before she, too, left her impression on the pan.

"That was fun!" Julia exclaimed. "Nice to see you again, Sophia and Emma."

"I found them, but can't pinpoint exactly." Emma answered.

-&-&-&-

(You're 0021, right?) Joe asked.

(That's right.) Emma replied, for it was none other than her.

(Why are you doing this?) Francoise asked.

(Well, it's somewhat of a very long story. You see...) Emma started, and never got the chance to finish.

(Emma? That's you, I know it!) GB exclaimed.

(Took you long enough. As I was saying, I'm with them. Yes, Uncle Britain, Sophia and the whole gang.) Emma explained.

(They met?) Albert asked.

(Long before I got there,) Emma said. (They all work so well together, it's a wonder that you never let them meet before. I know they are all still in the dark on who you are.)

(You mean...) Geromio said.

(Doctor Gilmore never told them you were cyborgs. He told them you were spies. After a long session of me being dead, he told Sophie that I was a cyborg. It looks as if they'll have to figure it out themselves the rest of the way. And now I must be going. It was a pleasure to meet all of you once more.) Emma concluded.

-&-&-&-

"Look at what I found!" Celeste exclaimed. She came out of a closet wearing a long, thin yellow cape that was tied in a loop around her neck, loosely. "Isn't it awesome! It feels just like something my dad would wear."

With that, she turned it around so it was like an oversized bib. Celeste fumbled with an indigo star clip in her hair, than managed to tug it out. She clipped it onto the cape and turned it back around so it was once more a cape that reached her ankles.

"Hey, that's interesting!" Julia said, jumping off the couch. "Are there any more in there?"

"'Course there are!" Celeste shouted, hauling out a large cardboard box. "And in so many colors, too!"

Julia tore through the box, hunting down something in either green or red. Eventually, she unearthed a cape that was as green as grass. Julia rushed to tie it around her neck, and once she did, admired it. Liana had stood up and had come over to look, also.

"Wow, talk about hiding it!" Liana shrieked, pulling about twenty different colors out. "I like these!" She laughed and yanked a red cape over her head.

The three girls took one look at each other and laughed. At the same time, they said, "Let's all choose a color and go with it."

Florence and Sophia walked together to see what the younger girls were laughing about. They peered into the box, then took a look at the colorful ground. Sophia hastily grabbed a dark magenta cape and tied it on. Florence took a minute to admire the different shades of blue, then choose azure.

"Dang, seeing those brings back memories," Emma said, bringing the last of the crew with her.

Rene wasted no time at all putting on a royal purple cape. Angelina looked at a few, then went with a cape the color of a pumpkin. Ivan and Emma looked at one another for a few minutes.

(I know what they mean to you.) Emma said.

(I know what they mean to _all_ of us,) Ivan corrected.

(What color are you going to go as?) Emma asked, picking up a white cape and turning it around in her hands.

(I can't,) Ivan said.

(You have to.) Emma snapped. The cape became periwinkle and shrunk to fit Emma's smaller size. She happily put it on.

Ivan looked reluctantly at the capes. They brought back far too many memories of fifteen years ago.

(Fine then, don't. I won't either.) Emma huffed, burning the cape.

(Don't do that!)

(Well, at least I _wore_ it once.)

(I can't say that I don't want to, but I can't,)

(Quit living in the past, boy. Here. It's silver. Wear it for me. Wear it for the original team, not these wanna-bes.)

Both of the cyborgs put their capes on.

"Yay!" Julia cheered. "Now we all have our own color. Who's going to lead?"

"I'll do it," Celeste volunteered. "If Grandpa said that my dad was the leader, then I can most certainly do the same. But I don't want to turn it into a monarchy. Let's all do this together!"

"All for one and one for all!" Sophia shouted.

"All for one and one for all!" The others chanted.

-&-&-&-

The wives were giving their husbands one the twenty question games of their lives.

"So we've all had nieces this entire time?" Madison Link demanded. Calling her furious was being nice.

"Yes, we all have. I think that's become quite clear," Francoise answered for Jet.

"But why didn't you want them to meet?" Amanda Britain asked. "You never had to tell them who they were. For crying out loud, they all already know what you can do! Why not just let them meet their cousins?"

"They're being tracked, that's why." Albert responded. "Alone, they are tiny blinking signals that mean nothing. Together, they are a massive strobe light that attracts Black Ghost. Now, tell me. Would you rather have your children's lives destroyed if they knew each other or have them live a happy life without knowing?"

(Hello, again, Mister Chang.) Emma said.

(You picked a bad time, Emma.) GB answered.

(Well, excuse me. I thought you would like to know we'll be there in under a week. But since you don't want to know, I'll just be on my merry way.) Emma barked.

(Did you say that they're _searching_ for us?) Joe asked.

(Yes, that's right, Mister Joe. Celeste has declared herself leader. I have to get rest or Mister Issac will have my hide and my ice,) Emma said, breaking away.

-&-&-&-

"Emma, are you ill?" Florence asked.

"Huh?" The child asked. "No. Sorry, Miss Florence!"

"You've been staring off into space a lot today, Emma. Are you certain that there's no lasting effect?" Issac asked.

"Nope. The only thing draining me is the rain." Emma replied.

_I was right! _Florence thought, silently cheering. _Emma _was_ causing the rotten weather lately. _

((A/N: EMMA IS NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER! Thank you for your precious time.))

Rain came streaming in the room for a split second, then left. Emma let loose a small sigh, then turned to get out.

"Where are you going?" Ivan asked.

"I'm...never mind. May I sleep out here?" Emma answered. She didn't wait for a reply to come. She simply curled up in the last rays of golden sunlight and laid her head on her arms contentedly.

Emma's face at once settled into that of peaceful slumber. Ivan and Issac watched Emma as if she was going to start laying golden eggs. Her large shirt draped itself along her tiny frame like a blanket. She burrowed her head into her arms and began to snore softly.

"She reminds me of you, Ivan." Issac said.

-&-&-&-

"Punkie!" 004 called into a long hallway. "We're baaaaaaack!"

A gangly, sixteen-year old girl emerged from a well-concealed door. She wore a light pink tank top with a black zip-up jacket to cover the rest of her arms. There was a braided light pink belt that looped around a black miniskirt. On her feet were three-inch pale-pink stiletto heels. To top it off, she wore a light pink messenger cap. Under the cap was chestnut-colored waist-length hair and ruby eyes.

"004, you're still wearing those shoes?" She asked. Quickly, she snapped her fingers and the stiletto heels became loose-fitting sneakers with black laces. "I thought they were long gone, like 0022 and 0023."

"Nope! I haven't lost my highlighters yet! I was going to tell you, 009, that someone wants to see you." 004 answered, bouncing around eagerly.

"Who is it?" The other female asked.

"You'll see!" 004 exclaimed, taking off down the blazing white hall. 009/Punkie watched her go. After a few seconds, she charged after 004.

"I asked who it was!" 009 called, running alongside the younger girl.

"His name is 009," 004 said. "The one from the Cyborg Project."

"Can we swing by to get the others?" 009 asked. She whipped out a pink cell phone, but then put it away just as fast. "Never mind. 003 is out chasing them, right?"

"That's right, Pinkie!" 004 exclaimed.

"And 001 and 002 have already met up with 000?" 009 asked.

"Yup! And he only wants to see you!" 004 replied. She came to a closed black door with a keypad next to it. 004 punched in a series of numbers and said, "Ariana Holly Ghiradelli." The door opened and led into a dark black corridor.

"Well, is it the captive?" 009 asked.

"Uh-huh. Come on, it's not that far away. Maybe ten minutes, at the most." 004 said.

The two cyborgs passed a few guards on their way, but none gave them any trouble. Like 004 had promised, they were at another door in ten minutes exactly. This door required only a key to open, unlike the fancy keypads on many of the other doors.

"This is 004 and 009 of the Megas Project, requesting access," 004 said. The lock clicked open easily allowing the two girls access. Most of the room (save two feet around) was floor-to-ceiling bars.

It was hard to tell which 009 was more shocked. They looked at one another, cinnamon eyes so alike. The girl looked at her carbon male copy and let a scream loose.

"H-h-how old are you?" He asked her first.

"I'm sixteen." She replied. She looked through the bars to see her own ruby eyes watching her every move. 004 had already slid through the bars and was merrily chatting, but no one else looked very merry. "You wanted to see me, 009? What do you have to say?"

"I just wanted to see what my wanna-be was like." He replied. "Don't worry."

She looked around the room to see the other rebel cyborgs. Some weren't cyborgs at all. Some were ordinary women, being held captive with their husbands. 009 knew it was against her honor as leader of the Megas Project, but she truly felt pity.

"I said, are you Japanese?" Jet demanded.

"Yes," 009 replied. 004 slid back out. "We have to be going now,"

"Later, then." Jet said airily.

Both of the Megas cyborgs left the room, one more cheerful than the other.

-&-&-&-

Angelina was wearing a pair of white pajama pants with little yellow ducks all over them, making them livelier than calm. She wore a white muscle shirt that showed her impressive arm muscles. Quietly, she snuck her way to the control room. Emma had been moved from the couch into another room with a window, so there was no risk in her being heard.

Angelina opened the door to the control room without a sound. She sat down and looked out at the drizzle outside. The computer had its screensaver that said (courtesy of Julia) "It is now safe to light your computer aflame."

Finding an odd-looking eyepiece ((A/N: like the ones they use in .hack)), Angelina woke the computer up and put it on.

_Let's see...I'd want to get online and go from there. _Angelina thought. She moved the mouse and clicked on INTERNET EXPLORER. Instantly, a screen popped up and welcomed her.

_Now...B-L-A-C-K G-H-O-S-T. I don't want to find a Halloween costume...here it is! _She clicked on a website with weird facts about Black Ghost. _Say no more. Man, this is almost too much. Talk about easy hack! It's almost as if they put it here in hope's I'd find the precious little gem._

"I knew you'd be in here, Angelina!" Ivan whispered. Angelina swiveled around and nearly stopped breathing.

"Ivan, please don't do that to me. You almost caused me a death," Angelina hissed. She stood up and went closer to the wide window, and pressed her palm to it. The eyewear was still on, and connected to the computer.

"I'm sorry," Ivan said. Angelina walked back to the computer. "Hacking, aren't you?"

"Yes," She whispered, taking her seat. "This site has so much information, it's a wonder they didn't just send an e-mail."

Ivan watched her go. The pieces of code alone meant nothing, but together with the filter Angelina was wearing, it was enough to bust an entire network. He watched as she delicately typed a few words...

And on the screen came a whole new desktop. There were files like "MEGAS PLANS" and "EXPERIMENT STATUS". Both gasped.

"Click on 'Experiment Status'," Ivan ordered. Angelina easily followed. The screen took a while to come up, but when it did, both froze.

"Name: Ivan Whiskey. Project number 001." Angelina read. "Ivan, please tell me this isn't you. Tell me it's someone else." She took off the data scanner.

"Check the 'Megas Plans'," He said, steering away from that topic.

"No, Ivan. I know it's you. Tell me yes and I won't tell." Angelina said, looking at him with a hard stare.

"Yes. It is I. That was over fifteen years ago. Now, can we please move on? There is more at stake here," Ivan admitted. Angelina took it at exited the open folder. She slid into the other folder with the plans.

"Emma Jessica Hashe, age six. That is _twisted and **demented**_." Angelina spat. "And she wasn't kidding. Look at her picture then! She looks just like she does now. All those abilities on one poor girl..."

"Scroll down," Ivan commanded. Angelina picked up the data scanner and placed back over her eyes. All information on every member of the Megas Project was there. "Stop."

They had reached Megas Project number 009. Her real name was Hikaru Raven...

"Angelina, can you see what her last name is?" Ivan asked. "I can't read it." For a heart-pounding moment, he looked at the profile picture of Hikaru. She had long chestnut hair and ruby eyes that were identical to Joe's.

"It's Mamora. I can see why you got alarmed. She looks a lot like Uncle Joe, doesn't she?" Angelina replied. Ivan heaved a breath of relief. Both _had_ thought that she was Joe's sister or something, or Celeste's older sister.

"They assigned them _colors_?" Ivan asked. "009's color is pink...I bet Joe got a kick out of that one..."

-&-&-&-

Emma woke up the next morning, lying on a large bed with tons of huge pillows and thin beams of watery sunlight playing on her face. Her strawberry hair was spread out around her like a small aureole. She sat up and rubbed her sleepy hazel eyes, and curled up in the sunshine.

(Emma,) Joe's voice said to Emma as she lay on the bed.

(Yes?) She asked.

(Did you ever meet the...other 009?)

(You mean Pinkie?)

(I suppose.)

(Yeah. She's a compassionate person. Usually, she goes along. She contacted me last night and told me what she was doing was forbidden.)

(What?)

(She feels bad for you. But by now, Black Ghost has probably got her being tortured into forgetting about that. He wants her because...)

(Because why?)

(The only one who is stronger than her is your team and myself. She can take all of us out with the rest of the Megas Project as backup.)

(I met her last night also. I can't help but look at her and see myself. It feels like someone, I don't know, _copied_ me. Copied me and turned me into a girl.)

Emma didn't hear his last sentence, for she had fallen asleep once more.

-&-&-&-

"It was sunny for a few minutes," Rene commented. "It hasn't been raining _all_ day. Only ninety-nine percent of it."

Angelina was still in the control room, browsing through hundreds of files. Issac had tried to enter once, but Ivan had advised that he leave. Angelina was so deeply in tune with her hacked computer, it would be impossible to ask her a question and get a logical answer.

As Angelina and Ivan waited for the .PNG map file to download, Angelina took off the data scanner and rubbed her eyes. She laid it down on the table as the map started to flick into sharp view. Why would you need a data scanner for a map?

The map had little moving dots, all labeled accordingly. The rooms had their labels, too, but none as kind as the other labels. There was one large circular room at the heart of the building that attracted Ivan's attention. Many of the dots were congregated there, making it seem like a meeting room. His attention then moved to another room with dots labeled '005' and '009'. 009's dot was pink, and Ivan took it that it was the other 009. Further away from that room on the other side of the building was a room that housed similar dots. It was a small room, but there were fifteen dots inside it. Their labels read '002', '003', and all others up through 009.

"Ivan," Angelina said in a quiet tone. "Our parents are in there."

-&-&-&-

"Did you find anything out, 003?" 009 asked the only male member of her project.

"Yes. They've got one hell of a hacker with them, Punkie." 003 replied.

"Really." 009 said, tilting 003's chin up.

"Get your paws off me," 003 barked. 009 pulled her hand away and slapped him five times.

"Try that again." 009 said, forcing herself to remain calm. 003 wasn't trying to be a moron, but 009 was in a bad mood. She had been caught showing human emotion again.

"She found her way into some idiot's computer and has been on there for a few hours looking around." 003 snapped.

"Good. You and 004 will take off immediately." 009 said, moving her attention to 002 and 001. "You two will make sure everything goes well. If you can, get 001 and 000 out of there. Give those brats the absolute sweep."

"Are you going to get 0022 and 0023 in on the deal?" 001 asked from a corner while filing her nails. "0023 is pretty helpful, and 0022 is selective. I think he'll see our perspective,"

"Yes, yes. Bring them too. I'll see you all in the next three hours or take off with the rest to find you." 009 said, waving her hand. Her assembled team left the room to prepare.

-&-&-&-

"SPEED!" Rene declared, slamming her last card onto the table. "Time!"

"Twenty nine seconds on the money," Julia answered. "That was AWESOME, you guys!"

All the older girls and Ivan were in the living room, having a speed showdown. Nothing exciting was happening, so they were seeing who was best at which card game.

"You're up now, Julia and Celeste!" Florence said, crossing Ivan off the chart.

The American and Japanese girls took their seats opposite one another as Florence shuffled the deck. She then dealt the cards to both and set out the twelve cards in-between them.

"Ready...one, two, three, FLIP!" Florence exclaimed. Julia and Celeste flip the two starting cards over and began laying down cards as soon as it happened. Celeste was slamming cards down and picking them up just as fast as Julia was. Both girls ran out at the exact same time.

"That was the best game I've had!" Celeste remarked. "Talk about speed!"

"You mean the speed we used getting here?" 004 asked, dropping in down from the ceiling. "I agree!"

-&-&-&-&-

WHOO! WE HAVE MET THE OTHER 009! I hope you like her. Out of all the Megas, she took probably the longest. Definitely gender-bending! XD

When I came out with the plans for 004, she was originally supposed to be about five years old. She was also supposed to be Japanese. 009 was going to be a prep.

I'm scared of myself!

Now, getting back to business. The next chapter will not be your usually scheduled, up-to-the-cliffhanger chapter. It will be such a wonderful chapter that you would kill me to find out what it is instead of my trademark I'm-going-to-leave-just-as-they're-dying chapter. Booya. Next chapter will have you wondering...

WHO THE HECK ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE?

They're the absolutely positively hopeless Ryou Bakura, Joe Shimamura/009 and Hatsuharu Sohma fans! :all run after the hotties:

-Mika, Sadie, Kun-chan, Mage, Kage, and Sudzie


	7. Saving Private Celeste

Hello, this is your perfectly normal authoress here. I have gotten into my twentieth year on Harvest Moon ((haha, normal right there)); meaning I've done EVERY SINGLE GODFORSAKEN EVENT THERE IS TO DO! MUST…REMAIN…NORMAL! :runs around with her overalls, flannel white shirt, brown boots, orange and blue hat, and her hair flying all over: ((for those who don't know, that's the typical HM guy dress, minus the long hair.))

The chapter's title is just for fun. It went through about fifteen name changes (all the way from 'Fly Me to the Moon' to 'The City of Wind') So yup. Mage went out and stole all the copyright info, so I own EVERYTHING! MUAHAHAHAHAHA! (EVEN THE ROCKET DAN INTRODUCTION! XD)

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Seven: Saving Private Celeste

-&-&-&-&-

"How's it going?" 004 asked, floating in mid-air. "I love doing this. Anywho, Punkie said she wants us to bring back Zero-cha or have our heads hanging."

"That sounds remotely like something I said to 0022," Julia noted.

"Hey, squirt, miss me?" 0022 asked, shooting a hole for himself to drop through. Julia looked ready to grab him and tie him in the tightest knot possible.

"Of course I did, Mister Sensitive." Julia snapped, enraged that her boots weren't in range.

"So then, where's 000?" 001 asked, dropping through 0022's hole. "Oh, no, we didn't want the boy to come with us. 009 thought he would be good to take along as a mind slave. And 004, shall I call for the backup?"

"May as well. She'll be flying in any time anyway, so why not just call and make sure on where she is? It's pretty obvious that she'll have everyone else with her. So let's get them here and kidnap the princess!" 004 shouted, tossing 001 her cell phone. 004's cell phone happened to be electric orange. 001 stopped the cell phone midway and sent it flying back, and took out her own green one.

"Punkie. Yes, it is us. We're here. Now, are you on your way?" 001 asked into the cell phone. There was silence for a minute, then, "Okay. See you in five." She pressed a button and slid the phone back into a pocket. "009 is on her way with everyone else right behind. Prepare for trouble."

"And make it double!" 004 chorused. ((A/N: I watch waaaaaaaaaay too much Poke'mon…you don't have to read this next bit of stupidity))

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Black!"

"Ghost!"

"Team BG blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Punkie-cha, that's right!" 009 shouted, coming down by way of 0022's hole. ((A/N: that was fun! Randomly spoofing stuff is AWESOME!))

"And we all came to drag 0021 back with us," 0023 said, grabbing 0022's hair and yanking him upward. "Oh, don't think that I didn't want to come. Working with the Megas is always a fun job."

"Glad to hear it, 0023!" A girl wearing excessive purple cheered. Her wispy blond hair had its ends dyed royal purple and tied into high pigtails, and her eyes were red. Unlike the other females in the Megas Project, she wore a button-up, collared, cuffed, extremely light purple shirt and a dark purple necktie. She wore a plaid purple skirt and knee-high violet socks, and to finish it off, her elevated tennis shoes were light purple. Maybe she was fifteen, or older. It was hard to tell with her bubbly schoolgirl look and Australian accent.

"006!" 004 shouted. "Let's finish these stinkers off!"

"On the money, 004! Lookin' outstanding!" 006 shouted back, seemingly as bouncy as 004 was. Both 004 and 006 drew out their guns (which were their respective colors), and fired about twenty bullets combined.

(EMMA!) Ivan bellowed in his mind. (Wake up!)

(You wouldn't mean 0021, would you?) Emma answered.

(Just let me take forcefields.) Ivan pleaded.

(Feel free,) Emma said. (Just don't tell the others in the projects.)

Ivan felt like white-hold metal was being poured into his blood. Emma's power was flying through him like the subway trains did. The feeling was growing familiar when the power flew around, but it would take a while.

"Hey 006!" Ivan shouted, more Emma's voice than his own. "Do you know who you're ripping off?"

"Hey, there are more of us up here!" Some older girl called. A streak of orange rammed through the wall, letting a twenty-something girl in. She wore a traffic-cone orange trucker cap with the Blink-182 logo and a Blink-182 orange t-shirt. ((A/N: ROSE, THIS IS FOR YOU!)) Her hair was a crazy shade of dyed orange and her eyes were brown, covered by glasses. She wore long denim shorts and diamond-pattern orange socks and ultra-high-top red plaid Converse. Ivan got the thought that she was about nineteen.

"Hey, 005! Where are the others?" 009 asked.

"Right here!" Yet another girl screamed. She walked through 006's hole to reveal her cyborg-specific color. It was a beautiful shade of blue-green, and it was represented in a flared sleeve hoodie very well. Her hair was streaked with bubblegum pink, naturally dark blond and tied in a low ponytail, and her eyes were striking gray. The flared jeans she wore bore tie-dyed patches and her shoes were tie-dyed with only two colors: blue and green. You got the impression that she was about seventeen.

"Yeah, how could you forget us?" One last girl asked, coming through. "Besides, not all of us have come yet." Evidently, she was going to be the last to arrive. The hair on her head was as white as snow, tied in low pigtails, and her eyes were a stormy gray. She wore a black t-shirt with a silver lowercase 'm', and a tiered miniskirt with three colors: white, gray, and black. One sock was striped with black and white, and the other was gray. Her shoes were perfect white. There was no way she was older than twenty-six.

"The entire Megas Project," Celeste breathed. "Finally."

-&-&-&-

"I'm a _schoolgirl_," The remainder of the rebels said in unison.

"Oh wow, that's funny," Madison giggled. "Jet, you look like a million bucks. Let's get a picture!"

"Very funny." He grumbled.

-&-&-&-

"Julia! Your back is exposed!" Sophia shouted. She would have run to help Julia, but she was already joined at the hip with Florence. Julia quickly whirled around and evaded an attack from 005, who just as quickly went at it again.

009 had remained on the couch nearly the entire time, watching her team fight. Her large, crimson eyes stared emptily into oblivion. At one point she just said to her nothing world, "Why am I bothering to do this? Hikaru doesn't like it this way. Talk about sweet sixteen turned sour."

"009?" The blue-green cyborg asked. "Is there anyone home?"

009 snapped out of her nothing world. "Huh? Oh, hello 007. Nice weather, ne?"

"Nice weather to be kicking CAN!" Julia shouted, kicking an unsuspecting 007 in the rear end.

"Hai, Julia-chan!" Celeste shouted. 006 got ticked off. Purple flames shot out of her hands, threatening the burn anything that came close. She laughed at the sudden wave of shock that spread around the room.

"What's the matter, never seen fire of another color?" She asked, showing that her shoes housed rockets with purple flames. "Chemical compound in it. Seriously, it's almost as wicked as surfing!"

"Hikaru, for your information, stopped caring," 009 said. 006 looked blankly at her leader.

"Nani?" Celeste asked. ((Japanese for 'what'))

The two girls began going back and forth in Japanese, leaving everyone else outside their world, fighting. 006 floated around with her purple rockets, spewing purple flames. 006 and 007 let her zoom around for a while, and then 005 got fed up and unleashed orange water from her fingertips.

"0021 SAYS STOP!" A voice screamed. It was like Emma's voice, and yet, it was much more mature than Emma's voice. For one thing, it had a deeper tone to it. The voice was beautiful and melodic, warm and welcoming. Once everything had frozen, its bearer stepped out.

She looked just like Emma would have.

_If _Emma was eighteen. Her hair was tied in buns above her ears, but half the long, strawberry-blond hair had tumbled out. The large, expressive hazel eyes had remained the same and so had her dress. The only difference was her expanded bust and long legs, which made her seem like a grown woman. ((A/N: I shall call the buns ondangos. Do not mess with the suds.))

"0021 says return to the past." She said.

-&-&-&-

They were falling…

Falling… 

Celeste jerked awake in a dark room, laying flat on her back. It felt like she'd fallen down a very large distance, for everything in her body seemed out of place. The wind was knocked out of her lungs, and she fought to inhale. All around her, the air seemed hot, but yet it was icy cold. The queer passivity that held her wound itself around her body then retracted.

Something told Celeste in her confused head that she was the only one.

-&-&-&-

Julia sat bolt upright, looking around for others. Celeste lay next to her, struggling to breathe. She could feel another presence, and there were many of them.

"Julia?"

"Yes?"

"Oh, good, someone else is here."

"Hello. Who are you?"

Julia heard someone slap himself or herself. "You mean after _two weeks_ of living with me you don't know my voice? Oy, that's messed up."

"Ah, hello Sophia. Sorry 'bout that."

"'S'okay. Where are we?" Sophia asked, feeling her way toward Julia in the darkness.

"That's a good question. Is there anyone else here?" Julia asked.

"I know the rest of them are still asleep, but I don't know how many," Sophia answered.

"Are you here?" Someone asked.

"I guess," Sophia said.

A glowing figure with ondangos appeared, beautiful with her blue shirt and hazel eyes. Both girls gaped for a minute, then snapped out of it.

"Good God, I've been looking for you for hours. Julia and Sophia, I'm sorry for the lack of explanation. I'm the older version of Emma, or 0021. You're trapped in my head." She said, brushing her strawberry hair out of her face.

"Okay. Now how do we get out?" Julia asked.

"You trust me, and then you find your path out." 0021 replied. "I can only take five at a time, and all the Megas are in here too. They'll be dead weight to carry, but I think I can do it."

"Nnnnnnooooo…I'll help…" 009 moaned from some close place.

0021 rushed to help 009 up. 009 began to radiate the same light 0021 was. 009 accepted 0021's hand and stood, with a lot of effort.

"Now, what you were saying. I'll help. And also, over there, Celeste told me what was going on. I met your parents, each and every one of them. I want to help you. I don't know if the rest of my team will want to, but I'll try like heck. 0022 and 0023 are still bent on killing you, though." 009 said. "You did some pretty serious damage to 0022's…area…"

Julia burst out laughing. 009 smiled, as did 0021.

"Well, I'll take 001, Ivan, 002, 003 and 004 first," 0021 said. "That way we can get them under control before all hell breaks loose, and Ivan can help."

0021 held the five named hands', then looked upward. Periwinkle light erupted from her body, and they were gone when the light faded. 009 also had her eyes facing upward, but she was violently shaking.

0021 lightly touched back down. "Alright, 009. That was pretty good. Julia, is Celeste over there?"

"Yeah," Julia replied.

"We need to bring her up right away," 0021 said, her tone grave. "Something's wrong, and Issac and Ivan can't figure it out. I'll take her, Florence, Rene, Angelina and Liana this time. 009, don't help me this time. I can manage."

With that, 0021 returned with the next group of five. This continued for a while, until there was no one but 009, Julia and Sophia left. 0021 landed in front of them, looking pale and worn down.

"All of you are going to need to help, because carrying dead weight like that is brutal." 0021 said, grabbing their hands in hers. "Now Julia and Sophia, don't panic about this process. Once you feel like you're about to fall, pull yourself upward with everything you've got. Otherwise, we probably won't find you again," There was a dry laugh heard all around as they were engulfed by periwinkle and pink light.

Immediately, Sophia and Julia felt the force pulling down. They joined hands and together mentally pulled themselves up.

"DAMN!" Julia yelled, with more power than she'd ever used before. She rolled off something onto a hard surface and screamed in pain. 0021 stood looking over her as she rolled onto her back.

"I think you were the one who showed up the best," 0021 said merrily. "With all the noise you made falling off the bed, you would have thought someone was trying to _murder_ you,"

"Where's Celeste?" Julia demanded, rising off the ground.

Celeste's head poked out from around the corner. She gave a loud sniffle and a sneeze before charging over to hug Julia. Julia took the embrace strangely; for it was the first hug she'd ever received from a friend. She squeezed Celeste back.

"I'm going to go back to my other body and have a nice long sleep," 0021 said, fading away. "Later, Julia!"

And just like that, 0021 was gone. Ivan walked into the room where Julia and Celeste stood, and walked to Celeste.

"What happened to you, Celeste?" He asked. She turned pink.

"I have no idea, Ivan. Seriously, I don't. All I remember was feeling like something had rearranged my body and I couldn't breathe," Celeste answered. "When I came back here, it felt like my head would explode from pressure,"

"I doubt our depth has anything to do with that," Ivan noted. He pressed a hand to Celeste's forehead, then felt Julia's. "You're warm, though, Celeste. Go to bed early tonight. You don't want to hear us talk out our plans, do you?"

Celeste was able to raise her own hand to Ivan's forehead and give him a painful flick, of which she never would have attempted before. Julia and her ran off to where Issac was negotiating with the Megas and 0022 and 0023.

"Listen, all of you. I'm quite frankly being the dancing monkey. If you want to keep doing it, then be that way! Keep living your lives under a monarch!" 009 screamed, standing on a table.

"I can't say I don't agree with 009. The only problem I have is that Black Ghost is trying to make the world a better place, not trying to destroy it. I can't see how you dreamed up that illusion, 009. Even being raised in Osaka, I don't know how you dreamed up something that." 001 said, painting her nails electric green.

009 screamed in rage and hurled a ball of pink flames at 001. 001 held up her hand and a green flame cancelled out 009's. 006 and 008 looked at one another and rolled their eyes in a 'not again' fashion.

"OY! STUFF YOUR PIEHOLES FOR A BLASTED MINUTE!" 006 boomed. "Thank you. Now, I can understand what Pinkie is saying. When _I _visited the other 006, they all looked like they were doing the right thing. It makes no sense that we be chock full of crazy powers if not to ruin the world. And I've seen the pictures. I've seen the cities crumbling at the hands of a merciless tyrant. And I've…."

"Alright, Kiara, we've heard enough of this crap." 001 said. "I don't know who to believe. Where's Zero-cha?"

"Well last time I checked, _Stephanie_, she was SLEEPING!" 006 screamed, outraged.

"She's asleep," 009 said. "I'll see if I can get in contact with her."

(Um, I feel awkward doing this.) 009 said.

(You're telling me,) Emma/0021 replied groggily. (Well, this must be for a good reason. It better be. I need to sleep for a long time,)

(I'm so very sorry. But just listen to me.)

(I'm all ears.)

(We have a problem. Is Black Ghost evil or trying to improve the world?)

(Hikaru-chan, you're a wonderful person. I respect you, both of us do. I can tell that you hate Black Ghost, just as Emma can. You're a bright girl, and you've got the spirit of a million people. Now you tell me: would a person trying to improve the world torture you for showing human emotion?)

(No….)

(Exactly.)

(I thank you for the compliments. But now I'm scared that I'll be discovered. You remember when I visited the original projects? I was tortured for feeling compassion. I see where this is going, Emma.)

(Then tell me.)

(Rebel!)

(I told you that you were smart.)

(The problem is that they have bombs in our bodies, ready to explode if we decided to do just that.)

(Pretend you aren't. Act like you're still loyal. We'll be ready for when we see you again. Now, both Emma and myself need sleep or we'll never be able to move from this bed again. Good night, Hikaru-cha.)

(Night, Emma.)

(I'm not Emma.)

(Fine.)

"Well?" 004 demanded, impatient turquoise eyes blazing. "What do we do?"

"We're going back," 009 replied. "But we're helping the cyborgs' children as of right now."

-&-&-&-

Ivan gazed in on the sleeping Emma. She was curled up, hugging a pillow. Her short strawberry-blond was knotted in various places, but she wasn't making a point of fixing it in the near future. Besides, she had just saved twenty people with hardly any help. Why should she worry about hair?

(Emma,) He said. She shifted in her sleep, but made no attempt to reply. (Emma!) Still, there was no reply from Emma. This was the first time she had not replied, ever.

Ivan left the room; not giving a second thought to the fact that Emma was rapidly growing in her sleep.

"Oh, hello Ivan." Celeste said suddenly, dropping down off the ceiling. "The Megas are staying here tonight. Hikaru said she'd pilot us to a mall in Great Britain, then take the rest of the Megas back to their headquarters in the mornin'. 0022 and 0023 already went back, thank goodness. Julia would have killed them otherwise."

"Feeling any better, then?" Ivan asked. Celeste nodded energetically.

"You bet!" She cheered.

"In there! Celeste and Ivan! We're havin' something to eat, so hurry up before we eat it all on ya!" 009 shouted. Her Osaka accent had made itself much more pronounced in the last half-hour, so she now sounded like a much younger girl.

-&-&-&-

"Bye, Celeste! I'll see you soon!" 009 called softly from the dock of the pier.

"Later Hikaru!" Celeste called back. All the Megas (minus Emma) vanished into blurs of color. Celeste stood with her back to the wind, so her yellow cape fluttered out in front of her. Julia jumped down off the top to land herself perfectly on Celeste's shoulders, but completely freaking Celeste out in the process.

"We should be going," Sophia said, landing on her feet. She had swapped her magenta cape for a long scarf, which she warped around her neck many times. "Besides, we want to get back in time for this to work."

Slowly, the other girls and Ivan jumped down. It was a crisp autumn morning in England, and they were all prepared to spend it getting the last things they'd need. It was their last stop before they would head off toward where the Megas said Black Ghost could be found.

So they took off toward the nearest mall, under Sophia's direction. The wind blew strongly through the trees, picking off red leaves as it blew.

"There, I told you it wasn't far," Sophia said, walking into a large square. "This is it. I hope it isn't too small, but this is the largest in the area."

Celeste joyfully skipped out to meet Sophia, rustling up leaves as she went. "It's beautiful, like a postcard! Is it like this every year?"

"As long as I've been here, yes." Sophia replied. "And that's _never_ been here before."

What she was referring to was what looked like a circus tent, which looked so due to its yellow and red stripes.

"Let's go see what it is," Julia said.

Everyone walked toward the huge tent. As they approached, Rene noticed something strange. Outside, there was a girl on a unicycle. She was wearing an all-black uniform that had a black long-sleeve shirt, black skin-tight pants, knee-high black boots, a long black cape, four large black buttons on her shirt, and a small black skirt. Her seafoam green hair was only to her shoulders, and her yellow eyes were large and unseeing.

"It's 002!" Angelina exclaimed. The girl on the unicycle looked up.

"Welcome," She said. Her voice had a metallic quality to it. "Ten dollars entrance fee, five dollars for children under sixteen."

"002, don't you remember us? Celeste? Rene? Ivan?" Celeste asked. 002 looked at them for a minute, then took out her gun.

"We were told you were fighting us," She said. "Now, pay up and enter."

Sophia sighed and took forty-five dollars out of her wallet. 002 accepted it and cycled away to grant them entrance.

Once inside, Julia looked closely at the acrobats. All of them were wearing the same uniform that 002 was, and after looking for five minutes with glasses, she saw that all the Megas were performing. One acrobat with strawberry blond hair caught her hair. Julia tugged on Sophia's sleeve.

"Isn't that Emma?" She demanded. All the performers stopped and walked toward the girls and Ivan.

009 tried to speak, but she screamed in pain instead. The other Megas looked at her as if she were insane, but 009 tried speaking anyway. "H-hello-o-o C-c-ce-l-l-e-s-s-te." A brilliant bolt of blue lightning coursed through her body, and she howled at the pain it was causing her. 002 cycled in from outside to find the source of the noise. The tent then grew steel bars and turned pitch black. The strawberry blond headed girl gave Sophia a glance, then turned her attention elsewhere. A large yellow light shone from the top of the…whatever it was…to show an interesting person.

They had their short brown hair pulled back in a jagged ponytail and pointed hazel eyes that cut into you. Their rippling muscles had their glamour emphasized by the light and the shirt was a white one with a simple black circle at the center. Their legs were small as twigs and as long as branches, covered by a pair of baggy denim shorts. On their feet were black G-Unit shoes.

"Welcome, welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" They shouted. It was there that Liana decided it was a guy. "Welcome to the G and B Circus, presented in dead color by the Megas Project numbers zero through nine!"

-&-&-&-

Far away were the true Megas, living their old lives. 009 was back in her beloved Osaka, downing sushi and sake faster than the speed of light. Her hair was tied in a French braid, and her wallet was bottomless. She thought that her parents were paying for her meal, but it was really Black Ghost. The meal she was having in reality would be stale bread and filthy water, but she didn't know that. All that mattered was that her body was fighting for the organization.

001 was standing at her old home, the home she had lived in while she was training for the Olympics. That seemed like last eternity, but it hadn't been that long ago. She was only fourteen, and they had kicked her off the team when she was eleven. Stephanie Wong hadn't cared, but her family felt the blow in the pocketbook. Right then, Stephanie didn't care that she was gone from the team. Her hands went over the familiar ground as she turned her body upside-down. Slowly, she did her old routine. The man in charge of her false reality smiled in spite of himself. He cracked out some white wine and sipped generously from the bottle as the real 001 fought for dominance in Great Britain.

-&-&-&-

001's body turned graceful through the air, landing at last on the other platform. Although her audience wasn't cheering, she was delighted. The green gun that was housed in a small pocket came out and fired lasers at the unsuspecting humans below the platform. Her thin red beam struck no humans.

009 neatly twirled out of 003's hands then lifted her leg into a 160-degree angle. Her brown hair, which was braided, whipped through the air. The ringleader man applauded as the different cyborgs pulled off their different feats, but it was false cheer. The Megas seemed to lap it right up.

"Please, Emma! Snap out of it!" Sophia begged, diving into the splits to avoid about twenty bullets. Emma made no sign of trying to stop. She continued to fire away while Ivan pelted her with mental comments.

(Emma! Emma, dammit, I'm going to drain you!) He roared. Emma continued her process on Sophia. Ivan found the familiar power to take Emma's energy and connected himself to her.

(Ivan? What are you doing?) Emma asked from some far off location. He didn't respond to her. He couldn't. The white-hot metal raged through his blood, making him feel more alive than he ever had. (IVAN! DON'T! I'm having such a wonderful time. Oh Ivan, it's wonderful. It's Sophie's house. Uncle Britain is serving us tea, and it is just so very pleasant. I wish you were here,)

(I wish you were here too,) Ivan replied. (You're destroying all of us right now.)

Right then, 000 held her arms out and cast out and let out a large explosion. Ivan threw his own arms out and cast out a blazing white forcefield to protect the girls behind him, and they held their arms over their eyes.

The light faded into the air. 000 stood holding her small palm outward still, threatening to kill. Julia looked ready to kill with her mere facial expression. Her ferocious green eyes had grown daggers in seconds, and in her hand was a long skinny red cheerleading baton. She twirled her baton deftly, tossing it upward every once in a while.

Julia then noticed that everyone was watching her and her red baton. "What? Oh, you're all wondering how I can use it. Well then. 009, come here."

009 stepped toward Julia. Julia held out her baton, smiling politely. Before 009 came within three feet of Julia, however, Julia twirled the baton into a blur of red and attacked 009 straight on. 009 didn't have the time to avoid the attack, so took it.

"That's enough, Miss Link!" The ringleader shouted. He pulled out a long whip that looked pretty high-tech and cracked it. Julia stopped to watch him. 009 danced away from Julia altogether and joined hands with the ringleader. He accepted her smaller hand and spun her gently around.

"Now, to repay you for earlier," 002 said, taking aim. Julia stood in open range, holding her baton at the ready. 002 fired a single bullet, then ran toward Julia. Julia wasn't prepared, so she was gifted with a hard kick in the stomach. 002 smirked as Julia flew backwards with the velocity of the kick.

"THAT'S JUST ABOUT ENOUGH, MISSIE!" A melodic voice called from outside. "I say that it's time for this game to end,"

With that, a translucent figure dropped from the sky near 000. When she had regained her full color, everyone saw that it was 0021. The ringleader snarled. "Well, if it isn't the 0021 herself! Welcome, welcome, to the big top!"

"0021, don't." Sophia hissed. "I've got this under control."

Sophia wove in-between the traffic of the Megas then struck the male ringleader from behind. He seemed to take a minute to feel the pain, and then it hit him. Sophia was standing in a warrior's pose, an evil grin spread across her face. He turned around and gave her a wicked laugh, attacking with his whip. Sophia hit the dirt just in time to avoid the blue lightning that crackled along the whip.

"Not bad for the child of prototype 007," The ringleader said pointedly. "Your defense is very good, but your offense is horrendous. Still, not bad for the cousin of the middle-girl."

"Who's the middle-girl?" Sophia demanded. The ringleader laughed his evil laugh again.

"Oh, you haven't figured it out?" He asked, pulling up the hood of an unseen cloak. "Your cousin 0021, or Zero, whichever you prefer, is the middle-girl. We call her that because she's part of both projects."

"You say that like she's some kind of pet!" Julia screamed, choking him with her baton.

(Emma, WHAT IS GOING ON?) Ivan demanded to Emma.

(I told you. I'm having tea.) Emma responded.

(No, you aren't. You're here, fighting me. 0021's here also.) Ivan said.

(No way! I can't be in two places at once! _You_ must be dreaming, Ivan.) Emma answered, delight and anger swirling together in her voice. (Here. I'll see what it's like seeing through your eyes,)

At once, Ivan's vision doubled. After a minute, it returned to normal. He involuntarily turned his head to survey the fight, and stopping at each person to see them. Then, he turned around to look at 0021.

(Then where am I right now?) Emma asked. (I can see what you mean now. But then where are we? How can we go on fighting like this when…)

(Let Sam-chan in!) A childish voice commanded. Underneath, there was an older girl's voice that seemed to want to hide.

(007? Is that you….?) Emma asked, shocked by the outburst.

(That's correct-o! Something's up-up! My family just pulled out samurai swords and said they wanted to see how skilled I was with martial artsies!) 007 replied.

007's real body charged towards Julia, getting ready for one heck of a strike. Julia stopped trying to murder the ringleader for a minute and whammed 007 with the baton over the head instead. 007 stopped dead in her tracks and keel over on top of the ringleader, and both hit their heads brutally on the cement ground.

Sophia stooped down and punched the ringleader in the nose. "I think you did them in, but why don't we get them once more just to make sure?"

0021 stepped forward to grab the baton. Her hands ran over the surface, like they were hunting something. When they stopped, she said, "Julia, where did you get this?"

"My friend's a cheerleader, so she gave it to me," Julia answered, taking what was hers back.

"What happened to my head?" 007 asked, sitting up. Her yellow eyes were like looking into a clear night sky with fantastic stars. "Last I's remember is having my whole family try and fight me back home…"

"Dude, my little five-year-old sister started doing kung-fu!" 002 exclaimed, the clouds gone from her yellow eyes. "And what the heck am I wearing? It's NOT blue!"

0021 and 000 looked at one another in the eyes, acting like they were going to hunt. Without warning, 0021 sat down and 000 held her hand. They vanished into one another, leaving one very exhausted Emma sitting on the ground.

"We're back, and plan to stay this way," She said, curling in a ball and falling asleep.

-&-&-&-

"Proper introduction is in order!" Julia shrieked. The Megas looked at her with wide eyes, wondering exactly _what _to think about her.

"Fine. My name is Stephanie and that's all you need to know," 001 said.

"I _could_ give you the full rundown, but I'll spare the time. The name's Areas. Michelle Areas." 002 said, downing a full glass of beer. "I apologize if I get drunk. I hate being a slave for that moron,"

With that, she and 006 slapped hands and drunk three more glasses.

"How goes it? My friends call me Rina, but to those unfamiliar, I'm Ariana. I suppose all of you could call me Rina…" 004 said. "And his name is Neal. He doesn't talk very much at all."

003 looked up from whatever he was doing. He waved at everyone, then focused his dark eyes on his work.

The orange-clad girl spoke up. "I'm 005, or as I call myself, Five-kun. If you don't want to call me that, then call me Rose."

006 looked pretty spaced out as she started talking gibberish. "Sorry for that. M'name is Kiara. I, like Michelle, apologize in advance for being drunk."

007 was sitting cross-legged under the table, meditating. She poked her head out after she heard Kiara talking. "Kobanwa, I'm Sam-chan! Animanga-holic am I, hai!" She exclaimed. Celeste seemed pretty interested in this person, and didn't seem to want to hide it.

"You all know 009's name. I'm Mizuki, but everyone calls me Mage. Some dare and call me Mika or Mao. I _really_ don't care. Just get it right." 008 said, wiping her silver cell phone clean. "Sorry, this isn't my natural color. I dyed it a while back just to piss my mother off." She smirked slightly, then developed it into a full-blown smile to reveal a set of fangs. "If my teeth scare you, it's nothing. They gave me these things when they captured me, along with my garlic. No, just kidding. I hyperglued them in at the same time I did my hair."

"Well, Mage, do you wanna get drunk?" Kiara asked, hanging over the side of her chair.

Mage gave her a funky look, then turned away. "Um….I'm under the age. I'm only nineteen."

"You're old enough to be my granny," Kiara replied. "I'm fifteen, this is my tenth time hittin' the bottle. No, don't worry. It's not bad yet."

"Yet," All the cyborg children said together. Morning was going to be beautiful if this drunken party kept up.

-&-&-&-

"GOOD MORNING!" Sam shouted cheerfully, arm in arm with Julia. "It's a GREAT day for HACKING the international data base!"

Liana was already awake, cooking up something. Michelle was asleep across the floor, Kiara not far behind her spread across three chairs. Both their hands clutched empty mugs. Sam pranced over them, receiving looks from Liana. Julia giggled and went right after her, glasses and all.

"Well, what do you expect? I'm only fourteen," Sam snapped. ((more alliteration.))

"I get the feeling that when they wake up, you're going to be helping me an awful lot, then." Sophia remarked. "It is _not_ going to be a pretty picture."

"I know what you mean," Mage and Sam said together.

"Well, I'm off to go hack some major corporation! Have a fun day!" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh well," Mage said smugly. "I guess she takes that off my list. I'll help you with them."

"Why are you so happy?" Florence asked.

"Because," Mage answered, "I need some time to brood. Why not then?"

"Good reason," Florence said with a heap of sarcasm.

"Damn my head," Kiara cursed. She rolled off the stools on top of Michelle, who made no intention of shoving her off. The purple cyborg sat dazed on the ground.

"Time for fun," The three girls chorused.

-&-&-&-&-

**-this chapter is for lilanimefan1 and dishrag1313. Ask me why and you shall die.-**

Well, not half bad! All the Megas have arrived, and THE END IS APPROACHING TOO SOON! Um…oh well. If you don't like someone, tell me. I don't care. I designed them with all my friend's different styles. Just don't ask about the colors. PLEASE. ((But if you must know, the idea is from Ojamajo Doremi.))

Yes, I **_AM_** working on Coke Induced Madness to the Second Power! If you aren't a member of the reign of insanity, then JOIN ME TODAY! YOU WILL ALL LOVE CHAPTER TWO! RANDOM SPOOFS TO THE ABSOLUTE MAX!

Caio!

This chapter boots chapter three out for the all-time longest. This chapter was _seventeen_ pages on Microsoft Word! :confetti and balloons: Hooray! We love long chapters…yes, we do. We likes them. THE PRECIOUS! :runs off screaming something or other about how she stole Anzu ((her older sister))'s Love Hina manga:

:gets chased by Anzu, Sora ((Mika's younger sister)), and Sadie: And my real name is NOT Mizuki! Anyone interested in seeing my craddy self-portrait should contact me with their e-mail and I can send it to you! My real name is Mikage Ruri ((Emerald)) Shirizawa! WHOOT! :gets attacked from behind by 008 and gets dragged away to a dungeon until she calms down:


	8. The World on a String

Mika: :standing on a stage, holding the microphone with two fingers: HELLO, EVERYONE!

The reviewers: HI, MIKA!

Mika: ARE YA READY?

The reviewers: AYE AYE, MIKA!

Mika: I CAN'T FREAKING **HEAR YOU!**

The reviewers: AYE AYE, MIKA!

009, Haru, Bakura: :drag Mika away:

Mika: I have Cyborg 009 at the top of my Christmas wish list. Really, I do. And to pronounce my full name correctly, it's Me-cage Roo-ree Sheer-ee-zah-wah! And pronounce my nickname Me-ka! Not like -some- people who call me "My-cah"!

002: :looking around nervously: what?

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Eight: The World on a String

-&-&-&-&-

"Is there anything _else_ you want to tell us?" Mage groaned.

"We should get back now," Kiara said. Mage stood up to relieve herself of her duty.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" Celeste demanded, then turning herself into a machine going ninety miles an hour with French curses.

"You're right. You should get back now," Florence said. "Or else they'll start thinking you rebelled and go and blow you up."

The Megas dropped everything they were doing and accelerated out of the Dolphin at amazing speeds.

-&-&-&-

"Ummm…" Celeste said. She poked her high pile of dirty clothes, growing by the day.

"I agree." Julia said, looking at her pile that was just as large. "We need to wash our clothes, or I think we'll kill a few people with their mere stench."

After the Megas had left, everything had grown much less exciting. Emma and Ivan were now off in the living room, holding a staring contest. The outing in England had resulted in only bringing the Megas back successfully. Issac had been pretty weirded out by all the new people, but adjusted. Now that they were gone, all the suspense was gone. There was no one new to meet for the girls.

So Issac sat in with Emma and Ivan as they carried a mental conversation, wishing he could help them.

"Doctor Gilmore, we can use your help," Emma said. "Why didn't you ask? We could always use people who know how to do this kind of work."

"In that case," Issac said, easing himself into the conversation. "How can I help?"

"You seem to know your way around cyborgs," Emma stated. "Now tell me this: were the Megas acting happy or _were_ they happy?"

Issac thought. The boy--what was his name? 003, that was his name. He had been fiddling with a small device the entire time. He had never spoken a single word. All the interesting females that had boarded for the short time seemed happy enough, yet two of them were drinking themselves dead.

"None of them wanted to be here, or at least that's what we think," Ivan noted.

"You're right. They _wanted _you all to think that they were your friends." Issac added.

"They must have…no…" Emma said, freezing in the middle of her sentence.

"What?" The two men asked at the same time.

"Do you remember when 007 said that she was going to hack the international data base?" Emma asked. The men nodded. "I think she didn't hack _only _that system. For someone like her, she probably hacked the information on all of us, then went and searched our computer records. Yai, we've got a problem!"

"ANGELINA!" Ivan shouted. There was no need, since she was standing in the doorway, as pale as she could ever be.

"Someone corrupted my entire computer," She said.

-&-&-&-

"Ah, 009. It is about time you arrived," A cloaked figure said. 009 tried to hide the twinkling pleasure in her ruby eyes.

The rest of the Megas came out of the shadows behind her, their faces showing grins of haunted enjoyment. 004 and 005, shockingly, didn't stand out.

"You have executed our plan well, 009." The figure said. "I trust 0020 was disposed in the process?"

"Yes, sir," 009 answered.

"Very good. And Miss Zero, how is she?" The figure asked.

"She stayed behind," 009 said.

"Well, is it time that we gave her a little surprise?" The figure said with a hint of death in his cold voice.

"No, sir!" 001 exclaimed. She received hard stares all around. "I mean, not yet. Bring them here, then destroy their precious little girl!"

"Good thinking, 001. Destroy her when they need her most." The figure played with the though for a minute. "Go ahead, run along. I'm sure you can get some practice in on the failed experiments in time for the arrival of our children, no?"

The Megas all exited the room to go find the practice room. The 'practice room' was more of a nicer term for it, since it contained all the failed projects. Countless numbers of them, there were. Often, the completed experiments were sent off to rough up the failures, and usually ended up killing the weaker, less developed cyborg.

"003, did you stick that…" 004 began to ask.

"Of course, silly. 007, did you finish the data drain?" 003 asked in return.

"You bet that Sam-chan did!" 007 replied.

-&-&-&-

"Maybe I can curl up in a corner and it will all go away…" Emma said. "Yai…Yai…YAI!"

"Why don't you open the windows and say it through a megaphone, Emma?" Sophia asked sarcastically. "I don't think Russia heard you."

"That sounds just like something Julia would say," Celeste mentioned with a giggle. "I think we're starting to rub off on one another."

Julia was trying to divert her anger into the pancakes that she and Liana had made, and turned them into a mush-like substance. Emma watched them through a single hazel eye; the other eye was closed.

"Well then, what do we do?" Rene asked. "We can't exactly determine where they're coming from now that they deleted all the information."

"No, but we can find them." Angelina said with a naughty smile on her face. "Someone was just begging to be traced when they left this under the table."

With that, she pulled the same device that 003 had been toying with out from under the table. Emma fell backwards off her stool as she laughed. "So the tech girl finds the flaw in their plan!" Emma picked herself back up only to fall back on her rear again. "Good God, that's _hilarious!_"

And soon enough, Florence was laughing too. Sophia was soon to follow; leaving everyone of the other girls left staring.

After a session of infectious laughter and tears from laughing so much, everyone hauled themselves back onto their stools and ate the remainder of the cold food. Once it was done, a few giggle fits took place between Julia and Liana as they cleaned up. Angelina, Issac, Ivan and Emma vanished into the control room with the others doing various activities.

Angelina picked up the data scanner with feelings of regret. "I shouldn't have trusted her…I knew it was a bad idea…"

"But it's in the past now," Ivan said. "There's nothing you can do to change it."

Angelina quickly brightened. "You're right."

She slid the data scanner over her eyes, then clicked open the remnants of Internet Explorer. Her fingers deftly danced over the keys, looking for the site she'd found before on Google. It was easy to find, but when she got there…

"No page to display," Emma vented. "Move over."

So Angelina stood and handed Emma the scanner. Emma shifted to 0021, then placed it over her own eyes. Then, it was pretty shocking for everyone. 0021 plunged her hand into the computer and pulled out a tiny bug. She looked at it for a moment, then crushed it between her fingers. The page took a few seconds, then loaded again.

"Thanks!" 0021 said. "Now, find you way back to the place you hacked last. I think I can do a lot of damage to the computer."

"Don't you worry about that," Issac said. "I think we can send them a pretty nasty virus when the time is ripe."

Angelina took the data scanner back and on it went. The mouse clicked like rapid fire, and the keys seemed to catch fire with the speed of typing. The object that had been found under the table was placed on a tiny pad, green light glowing softly around it. After what seemed like an hour, but was really only about forty-five minutes, Angelina leaned back and smiled with her entire body.

"I'm back on someone's desktop." She announced. She took the scanner off and rubbed her eyes, then stood up. No sooner had she done so, Issac seized the seat and sat down. He browsed right over the information on the Megas Project and went straight to the Cyborg Project.

"I'm leaving now," Angelina said to deaf ears. She opened the door and left. Ivan, Issac and 0021 were totally absorbed in the hacked computer.

"They have _everything_," Issac said. "It's like they've followed you…"

"Wait. Scroll down to the very bottom." 0021 commanded. She stole the mouse away and did it herself instead of waiting.

"_No_…" They all chorused.

For what they saw was not just up to 0023, but far beyond. Up to 0030 was displayed on the screen, and every scrap of known information on them. But no, these cyborgs had not yet been created. They were still yet to be taken in. They were already scheduled.

Their names were…

0024 – Julia Minorca Link

0025 – Florence Anne Heinrich

0026 – Angelina Rose Junior

0027 – Li Hua Changku ((A/N: her name means 'Pear Blossom' in Chinese))

0028 – Sophia Christina Britain

0029 – Rene Josephine Meraga

0030 – Celeste Maria Shimamura

Issac closed the file immediately. He clicked open, in his rush, the absolute location of current headquarters.

-&-&-&-

The girls had their capes on, but were acting like the lazy bums they'd be when they got back home. Pretty much the only conflict was what channel to watch on TV or if they should watch a movie.

"LET'S JUST WATCH CHICAGO AND GET IT OVER WITH!" Julia cried in frustration.

"Fine then," Sophia said. "Put it on so we can end this pointless dispute." She plunked down on the couch, right on top of the magenta cloth. Julia was inclined to just break the DVD in two pieces, but popped it in instead. Just as the tray slid in, 0021 burst from the control room, singing and dancing and leaping over Ivan and Issac.

"You act like you won the lottery," Rene remarked.

"We did! We did!" 0021 cheered. "We found where they're hiding!"

All was forgotten about Chicago. Sophia and Julia screamed like teenagers winning some weird prize and danced around with one another until they collapsed. Florence lost all her composure and started singing something in German.

"Hey everyone! PILLOW FIGHT!" Celeste declared, hurtling pillows at unsuspecting people. Issac didn't care this time. It was too happy an atmosphere to not join the wild teenagers in their fun.

-&-&-&-

By ten o'clock that night, everyone was tired from dancing, singing, throwing pillows and laughing at one another. Rene and Sophia were lying across one another on the couch, laughing themselves to sleep. Florence and Celeste were attacking one another with various math questions, half-awake and taking two-minute intervals to laugh at the other's answer. 0021 and Ivan sat back to back, seeing who could go the longest without laughing. Ivan held the record at one whole minute.

_That's good,_ Issac thought. _They'll need all the sleep they can get for these next few days._

-&-&-&-

"I fell asleep with my lenses in again," Julia proclaimed upon waking up in the armchair the next morning. She checked the clock that hung across the room "It's eleven in the morning? Jesus, did I sleep in!"

She briskly changed to her glasses and brushed her fiery hair. Since there was a pleasant smell, Julia meandered toward the kitchen.

"I've got the world on a string, sittin' on a rainbow…" Celeste was singing as Julia entered. "And good morning to you, Julia!"

"Hark, Julia hath entered!" Emma squeaked. She was caught somewhere in-between herself and 0021.

To Julia's surprise, Florence and Sophia exited the main part of the kitchen. They had little bits of batter on their clothes, but seemed pleased.

"We have something to tell you all," Ivan said. All eyes fell upon him. "Last night, we found where the headquarters for Black Ghost was hiding out, but you all already knew that. What we want to know is when you want to get there."

"We get there first," Sophia retaliated. "Then we take steps from there."

"Then question number two, Sophie. Do you mind if I become two separate people for a while?" Emma asked.

"Can you do that even?" Florence asked, dusting the batter off her clothes. "I remember you and 0021 did that in the freakish circus thing. But how?"

(Emma, don't you dare tell them,) Ivan warned her.

(Come on, you big baby.) She snapped, hitting a definite soft spot.

(HEY!)

(I can reach them from here.)

(Then do it.)

(Come with me,)

(Why?)

(I have a voice.)

(Fine,) Ivan said. Emma crossed her arms in her victory, and nodded her head. 0021 appeared and took her place.

(Are you done showing off?) Ivan demanded.

(I don't know,) She taunted. (Maybe I want to take off the red string around my ankle.)

(Now you're just being annoying.)

(You're so sweet.)

The two bickering cyborgs found their way through to their captive teammates' heads, even though it took a _lot _of time. Emma and Ivan had an arsenal of witty comebacks for the other, and each outdid the last. Finally, 0021 tried speaking through her mind.

(Is anyone hoooooome?) She trilled.

(Who are _you_?) Jet grumped.

(Maybe if you gave me a chance, Mister Jet, I could explain.) 0021 lashed right back at him. (Ask us again _politely_ and we'll tell you.)

(Emma, shut up.) Ivan snapped.

(YA WANNA START THAT AGAIN, DO YA?) 0021 crooned.

(Ah, so it's _you_,) Jet said.

(IT DAMN SURE IS!) 0021 shrieked.

(What do you have to tell us?) Francoise asked eagerly.

(We're headed your way.) Ivan said.

(Anything else?) Albert asked the two younger cyborgs.

(Iie, no. I wish there was,) 0021 said, calming down from her rampage.

-&-&-&-

"AND KICK, SPIN, SPIN, KICK, KICK, PUNCH, KICK, PUNCH, PUNCH, SPIN, KICK!" Julia shouted over the roar of her own music. She meant well by trying to get everyone to fight with the beat of the music and shouting commands, but…well, it wasn't really working very well. Only Julia could follow Julia's shouting.

"**_I love you for free and I'm not your mother,"_** The song roared. Julia jumped upward, then kicked mid-air. **_"But you don't even bother! Objection I'm tired of this triangle,"_**

"Tell me about it," Rene moaned. The song was on its fifth repeat, with no sign of Julia wearing down. So Rene simply cut the power on it and Julia froze in the middle of her circle of kicking.

"We should do that more often!" Julia cheered. The poor ponytail that had tried to hold her red hair back was hardly there anymore, the fiery strands flying about like poison daggers.

"Now that we've found where they've been camping, what are we going to wear when we fight them? Ivan, you should know, shouldn't you?" Sophia asked.

"I don't know. I suppose for all of you not to wear short skirts, because there are a lot of strange people there…" Ivan answered.

"Let's go change!" Julia proclaimed.

"You said that because…?" Emma asked. She morphed to 0021 and crossed her arms.

"I don't know why! As you have probably already observed, I'm a _guy_. I don't wear skirts." Ivan barked back at her. There was a long pause before anything really happened aside from a grand staring contest.

"AHAHA!" Sophia laughed, jumping Ivan. He turned around in shock to look at Sophia, and was definitely stunned by her. Sophia's magenta cape contrasted her dark eyes, and set them out. Her dress had changed drastically. She now wore a short-sleeved black collared shirt, khaki pants rolled to her kneecaps, short white gym socks, and Converse Re-issued black shoes with pink stars. The just-past shoulder length blond hair had a small portion tied into a forty's bon-bon on the left side of her head, and the rest hung down.

Julia came racing out, gel in hand. She wore a green army fatigue jacket that had been rolled up to her elbows and had an official patch that bore the name LINK on it. Under it was a camouflage shirt, and her baggy pants were the same as her upper half. Like her father, she wore knee-high shiny black boots. But these were a pair of her own boots, and the possessed steel bottoms, heels, and toes. She held the gel between her teeth as she fiddled with the green cape and worked more gel into her hair.

Florence had also lost her mind. As she walked in, she finished tying her French braid up and wrapped a holder around the end of the silver-blue locks. The azure cape swept behind her neatly and stopped as she stopped. She wore a black short sleeved shirt that asked in white print, 'got music?', a blue belt that had a black music note buckle, incredibly flared light blue jeans that had holes torn in them and safety pins dangling from the holes, and the finish it off, a pair of blue sneakers with music notes smeared on in ink.

Celeste kicked butt and took names with her attire. Her hair was held away from her face by two yellow star barrettes, identical to the color of her cape. The brown locks tumbled down to her chest, then curled up like Emma's did. A periwinkle blouse that was unbuttoned hid an indigo tank top. The dark jeans she wore were flared gently and had star patches in various colors and places decorated them wonderfully. Lastly was her pair of black elevated tennis shoes, laced in reverse.

Liana looked like Julia, except a red version wearing a black pair of capri pants and just a t-shirt. Her hair was tied in a bun that sat on the top of her head, and a white pear blossom lodged itself behind her right ear. ((sorry, I couldn't resist!)) The chestnut eyes glowed in readiness and shone with pride. Her red cape came close to brushing the floor, but didn't.

Angelina wasn't going to go out to the main front, but would stay behind on the Dolphin with Issac just in case. She was technical support, and had the keypad codes hacked and voice keys at the ready. It was the plain-old every day dress for her: black t-shirt, blue jeans, bike gloves, dirty white tennis shoes and her hair tied back in a ponytail. If anything were to happen, she would fly right in with Issac and take her place in the battle. Her orange cape was staying on, datte. ((datte means but still, but in this case, still.))

Rene was the last human to be leaving the Dolphin on the mission. Her hair was tied into pigtails behind her ears, and the purple cape flowed regally. A blue shirt matched the stellar blue eyes, and had a darker blue star on it. Dark denim jeans flared to cover her white shoes.

"We're ready to go," Julia said. "Or at least once I…done! Let's kick can!"

"Hold on," Ivan said. "You're going in unarmed?"

Julia pulled le baton rouge ((the red baton, I can't resist using the French name, gomen!)) our of her pants and laughed. Ivan arched an eyebrow and Julia replaced her baton. He stepped aside to reveal the old pistols that they had used fifteen years ago. They had remained silver and still shone wonderfully, so each girl received one with two to spare.

"Let's go," 0021 said. "This is mine. I'm sure you all know we need to communicate?"

"Already solved," Angelina said. "The earpieces from three weeks ago. Here, each of you needs to wear one. Then I can tell you the codes and get the voice patterns into all those locks."

Each person, including Issac, Emma, Ivan and Angelina hooked the devices on.

"Should we use code names?" Celeste asked.

"Nah, I doubt they are smart enough to pick up the transmission signals," 0021 replied with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"We're there," Angelina said, running off toward the control room to safely land. Julia was curled into a ball, prepping herself for the responsibility ahead of her. Celeste was meditating, and Florence was telling herself that everything would be fine.

A small jolt ran through the vessel as they landed on a rocky island. Angelina re-emerged from the control room and admired her cousins.

"The best of luck to you all," She said. They all hugged her closely.

"I hope we're all safe to say that we used it well," 0021 grumped.

"Now, I have a plan," Issac said. "Break into teams of two, all but Sophia and Julia. Sophia, you're going to get them all out. Julia, you'll be head of defense. You're first on the line when Sophia exits the room, so hang on the ceiling. Ivan and 0021, be close to the entrance to the cave. Celeste, pair with Florence, and Rene with Liana. Place yourselves where no one can see you, and make sure that if you _are_ seen, you look like a guard."

And with that, the girls and Ivan took off down into the base. Angelina entered the access code and they were in, and the great door lowered again.

_Please keep them safe,_ Issac and Angelina thought. _None of us can stand to loose a single on of them._

-&-&-&-&-

IT'S HERE! THE CLIMAX IS NEXT CHAPTER! THERE IS NO MORE RISING ACTION!

And what's this? The Megas have been faking the friendship? No way! Errrr…yes way!

I've been dreaming about this since the start. I can't wait to show you the finished work on the climax. It will be slow to come out. I've (thank goodness) already written the first page of it, which is only the intro! Oh dear! The format is already set up, and I just need to write it out. Special thanks to Kacie-san for giving me the lyrics to Holding Out for a Hero. It plays a big part!

Can you stand the suspense? START POPPING YOUR POPCORN NOW, FOOLS!

**Just added: don't confuse this story with Demon Darkchild ((Dark-chan))'s The Cyborg Children. It is a very good story, and I highly recommend it to all you fans of this. They _are_ two different stories and in no way related. **


	9. One Big Final Hurrah

Once upon a time, there were nine magical cyborgs. They were constantly running from an evil organization called Black Ghost. After much torment, they finally toppled the empire of darkness and went their separate ways. Two of these magical cyborgs, named 009 and 003, married and had a baby. They named that baby Celeste Maria. The other magical cyborgs eventually got married. Slowly, months dragged to years. The years slowly stacked up.

Fifteen years had now gone by, and every cyborg had a wife and child. None of the wives or children knew of each other, all but magical 003. She knew all the secrets. But one horrible night, the parents were called by the evil Black Ghost and taken away from their children. The children, not knowing what to do, called their Grandpa Gilmore.

Grandpa Gilmore was of the special sort. He had helped the cyborgs and raised the youngest, 001, who had now grown to be fifteen. When he received their calls, he wasn't very surprised. The children were flown to Japan the next day to finally meet one another. Julia Minorca Link, the child of 002, was impressed. She had only known her cousin Ivan, never these people. The children took the cyborgs' magical multi-use vessel called the Dolphin and began their search. Not long after, they met the new cyborg, 0022. He wanted to destroy them! But the children easily defeated him. Soon to follow, he returned. And he returned after that with project 0023. The child of 007, Sophia Christina Britain, had to fly to England to rescue her cousin Emma.

Once they got there, Emma had already been changed. Emma had become a cyborg, cyborg 0021 in what was called "The Cyborg Project" and 000 in what was called "The Megas Project". Her powers were very many, and she helped the children very much. Then 0022 and 0023 returned, then came 001 of the Megas Project. 001 had taken off in an acceleration mode race with little Emma, and shot her four times. Then, 001 flew the helpless Emma back to the magical Dolphin where she was cared for carefully. Emma altered the past, though, and changed it so she was only shot twice. It was then we met 002, 003, 004 and the rest of the Megas Project. The Megas showed the children that they wanted to help, but were really manipulating them. Ivan, Grandpa Issac, and Emma solved it first, and never shared with the children.

Meanwhile, the captive cyborgs and their spouses remained captive at Black Ghost's new headquarters. They had met the Megas Project and were shocked by it. They had witnessed their children triumph over the evil. But the worst was yet to come…

This chapter will be presented in songfic format, adapted from Shrek 2.

The real world is here! The _real life _Sadie will be our lead vocal, with the real Joe on piano! :they wave: Rose, Emma and Nina, three separate real people, will be our special effects crew. Last and not least, the real Florence will conduct the orchestra and the real world Julia will be the head of backup vocals! :all wave as they walk out, Sadie in a skimpy red slip dress and stilettos, and Joe in a tuxedo, the others wearing awesome blue dresses:

_**This is the song part, also tells the speed of the song. ((speed))**_

"This is the characters talking to one another."

_This is the characters thinking to themselves._

(This is the cyborgs communicating telepathically, also used by the Megas.)

((these are the occasional author's notes! I've got to talk too, ya know!))

Disclaimer: I do not own Cyborg 009 or the song "Holding Out for a Hero".

Please, people. For this chapter only, I'm going to ask you a favor. Leave a review that's _more_ than one line long. Tell me what you liked, hated and what you thought was stupid. I need to know! You can tell me even all the stupid junk that I didn't need. I know you can all review!

**!!WARNING!!- This chapter gets a little shaky on that PG rating. **

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Nine: One Big Final Hurrah

-&-&-&-&-

**_((piano playing softly in background)) Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to dedicate this song to…Princess Mika and her new husband, Prince Joe. _**((my lovely 009))

**_Where have all the good men gone  
And where are all the gods?  
Where's the street-wise Hercules  
To fight the rising odds?  
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?  
Late at night toss and turn and dream of what I need_**

"Hey Julia, why don't you try being quiet?" Sophia hissed into her speaker. She heard a loud harumph from one of the other ends of the piece.

"It's a wonder we're not caught, even in these clothes." Florence muttered, sighed, and sounded like a heap of static.

"Don't worry. I'm sure plenty of the guards that work here are insane, so if we get caught talking, they'll just think us crazy." Celeste said merrily, although the tone was rather sarcastic.

They had successfully entered the base, and broken off into their teams. Not long after, each had abducted a guard and stolen their uniforms, all but 0021 and Ivan. Those two were running their own crusades with keeping everything on track and getting all the codes right. Sophia was halfway down the hall when some tall, macho man came from no where at all.

"SOPHIA!" Angelina barked from the Dolphin. "Don't start gaping! You either, Julia and Celeste!"

For at the same time, rows and rows of guards were crossing the halls. Florence went fifty miles an hour in German profanities and Sophia stopped her staring. Sophia charged full speed down the hall, sadly to bump into another tall man.

"Oops, my bad!" Sophia exclaimed, promptly lifting the man over her shoulder and smacking him home off pure adrenaline. She picked up her pace once more and turned down a familiar hall.

There was a plain door, nothing fancy, just a neat wooden door. There was a keyhole above the doorknob, and there was a voice box.

"Angelina, I'm here." Sophia said. There was the rapid taping of keys and a familiar voice said, "This is Ariana Holly Ghiradelli."

The door swung wide open to let Sophia in. The inside held eight of the prototype cyborgs and their spouses, but none knew that it was Sophia under the baggy black getup.

"What do you want from us now?" Britain asked. "One of us to experiment some more on?"

"That's really interesting, daddy, but I have to get you all out of here right now," Sophia said, laughing a little in spite of herself. She tugged the helmet off and let the blond tresses fall down, leaving every captive left to gape. "Angelina…"

"YOU FOUND THEM!" Eight voices clambered in her ear.

"Yeah, now do I just use my laser setting to get them out?" Sophia asked. "Save it all for when you see them, cause we haven't even gotten them out."

"That's right," Ivan said.

"Back away from the bars, then." Sophia said, taking aim. The laser shot and melted through the bars, freeing the captives. Sophia was given hugs by her parents, then led them racing down through the halls. They ran and ran and ran until…

"Hey!" A guard shouted.

"Stand back!" Sophia shouted. She kept running, then turned it into a series of handsprings to knock the guard and all his buddies out.

"How did you learn to do that?" A puzzled Amanda asked.

"Oh, Julia let me use the shoes. They have steel in them, which knocks them out. The rest is basic gymnastics." Sophia explained, regaining her pose. "Now, come on!"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" An angry voice demanded, its owner falling upside down from the ceiling. They had red hair that was spiked backward and wore army fatigues.

"Who stole my hair?" Jet demanded, furious at whomever it was hidden under the helmet. The person dropped from the ceiling to stand to her five feet three inches to hug her father.

"Daddy! You're alive! Mommy too!" Julia squealed, hugging her dad and pouncing into his protective arms. He lit his rockets and flew in a spiral with her. She laughed as they came back down.

"Celestia, we're headed your way!" Julia said into the earpiece. The group took off walking, and the children conversing through the microphones.

Soon enough, two more heavily armed guards ambushed from the adjacent halls. They lowered their weapons as soon as Julia brought out her red baton and attacked Albert and Joe with viscous hugs instead. The men took off the guards' helmets and found their daughters' hair piled neatly beneath it. As their hair fell out, they were attacked with their own move.

"We're dreaming of seeing you soon," Rene said with Liana.

"Then we'll be there shortly," Celeste answered briskly.

(When did they become so…) Francoise began.

(Battle ready?) Albert finished for her. ((A/N: BATTLE READY ARMOR! BRA! HAHAHAHA! :rolls around in laughter:))

(I can answer that,) Ivan said sheepishly. (They wanted to have you back so badly, they trained until they were ready.)

The children were ten meters ahead, parents on their fast little butts to catch up. Julia stopped, though, when she reached an arched doorway.

"Angelina, key code please." Julia asked.

"Seven five five three eight six four!" Angelina said back. Julia punched it in and two female guards freed their helmets of their heads and ran to hug Chang and Pyunma. They acted surprised, but saw that it was only their children.

"Why on earth are you all wearing those uniforms?" Britain asked.

"You should know best of all," Sophia said, taking it off. "Acting! We can't be running around in our regular clothes, can we now?"

Suddenly, periwinkle light streamed around them. Once it had stopped, they were all with 0021 and Ivan, who were smiling from ear to ear.

"Angelina, give us the final access code." 0021 said.

"Say hi to my dad and I will," Angelina retorted. Julia took off her earpiece and handed it up to Geromio, who placed it on gently.

"Hello, Angelina." He said. A shuddering breath of emotion filled their ears.

"Hello, dad! Call me again if I'm needed! I'm on the Dolphin right now," The girl replied in her alto voice. Geromio handed the earpiece back to Julia, who put it right back on.

"Are you all ready?" Ivan asked. "This is it. There's no turning back. It's the final boss, the final level, whatever you call it. It all comes down to this battle."

"Give us the code, Angelina." Liana said with utter boldness in her voice. Julia took a deep breath.

"Four six nine seven eight five zero zero nine." Angelina said. The same boldness rang through her voice as Julia tapped out the numbers.

Two large black doors opened with a whoosh.

"Good luck," Everyone said. They stepped inside, butterflies threatening to burst free of their stomachs.

**_((song speeds up and background vocals join in with all other instruments))_**

**_I need a hero  
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night  
He's gotta be strong  
And he's gotta be fast  
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight_**

"Welcome, welcome, one and all!" 009 crowed from a raised platform. Her uniform was just like the one she'd worn at the circus, except it had gold buttons, black boots and light pink everything else. She jumped down and landed in front of the alarmed Celeste. "Oh, there's nothing to worry about, sweet little Celeste. Hikaru's got it all in the bag."

"Don't fall for it!" Florence shouted. "She's been fooling us the whole time!"

Celeste stopped mid-way on her way to seize 009's hand. 009 gave her a sickly sweet look and Celeste yanked her hand away. In a few seconds, the blaster was out and she was firing at full juice toward 009. Amazing what three weeks can do to a teenage girl, isn't it?

"How did you know that, you silly little girl?" 004 asked, running from the shadows in an original copy of the cyborg prototype uniform. She held her yellow gun toward Florence, and Florence didn't seem to mind it.

"If I could trust you, you would have given us your last names. You all continued denying your loyalty to Black Ghost, my suspicions rose. None of you offered to stay with us, so you must have still been loyal." Florence explained. She smirked with her entire body, then fired her gun.

The darkness of the room was enveloping, and soon, they were blindly fighting off the Megas. All the cyborgs had matched up against their counterpart, and both Joe and 009 were in acceleration mode. Angelina was screaming directions with Issac not far behind.

"JULIA! GET OVER TO THE FAR DOORS RIGHT NOW!" Angelina bellowed, Julia scampering to obey. "Access code four seven three zero five six!"

Julia pulverized the keys and the next set of doors opened. For a minute, the entire room froze with awe. The doors had opened to a burning white room with nothing inside of it.

"Well," 008 said, uniform gray with black buttons, "What are you going to do?"

"Go on!" 0021 urged. "We'll stay back and fight them! Angelina, put a lock on the doors!" Angelina tapped a few keys, and the doors clicked. "Now, go on! What ever it is, it's probably waiting for you!"

007 had just ran up to Julia in hopes to kill her from behind. As soon as 007 came within immediate range, Julia turned around and used an adrenaline rush to knock the cyborg to the earth.

"GO!" Ivan and 0021 shouted together. 0021 became Emma again and turned to continue their fight.

"I'm here if you need me," Angelina said.

The girls congregated and looked one another in the eyes. They looked into the blazing white and stepped inside, leaving their parents and cousins behind to fight down the Megas.

"Oh crud," Angelina murmured. The doors flew shut, leaving the girls trapped inside. An ebony figure descended from pure nowhere, and the girls gasped in shock. It all came down to this one person. The figure turned, showing its bulbous, glowing yellow eyes and rows of pearly white teeth. Julia held her baton at the ready in one hand, gun in the other. Celeste had both hands on her gun, ready to rumble.

It was time for the final battle to be fought.

**_I need a hero  
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light  
He's gotta be sure  
And it's gotta be soon  
And he's gotta be larger than life_**

Larger than life

"Miss Shimamura, how grand it is to finally meet you," It said.

"Back away slowly and I won't kill you," Celeste snarled, face twisted into fury. Julia was a step ahead, already ducking behind the others and sneaking up to the figure's neck.

"Now, now, Miss Link, we can't have you trying to kill me," The figure said, like a steel bar coated with frosting. Julia cursed him under her breath and slid the baton away from his black neck. "Now girls, you have evidently heard of me. I am the great Black Ghost."

"Oh yeah, and I'm the Amazing Spider-Man," Julia sneered. Black Ghost raised a gun at her, unsure whether to fire this early. Julia found it to be a fine thing to do, and fired on the laser setting. Rene seemed a little surprised to be starting that early, but went along with it anyway.

Julia seemed hell-bent on using the baton, so she once again tried to throttle Black Ghost with it. She pocketed the gun and charged full speed toward the black backside. She made a full lunge with her weight, then captured the neck in her baton.

Black Ghost was suddenly not about six feet tall. He/she/it grew to a remarkable eight feet high, with Julia dangling from her baton. Julia laughed nervously.

"Miss Link, haven't I told you it isn't wise to try and kill people like that?" Super-size Black Ghost asked Julia.

"Hell if I even listened to that," Julia snapped, dropping lightly to the ground. As soon as she did, Liana took it like a cue to fire a regular gun that was concealed in a pocket. Celeste gave an un-Celeste-like smile and performed Julia's edited cheerleading move on Black Ghost.

"Celeste!" Sophia shouted. "Wonderful!" And she seized her chance to attack. It was just guts at the start of their fight that inspired her, so she ran and ran and ran until it turned into handsprings and cartwheels. Her heels slammed Black Ghost's back, which was still super sized. With strength she'd never had before, she jumped and kicked like Julia would have been proud of.

The battle outside wasn't much better off.

"Damn you!" Jet shouted. 002 was flickering in and out of view with her acceleration mode, and had already struck Jet many times with her gun. Jet was occupied with simply catching the girl and pounding her until she had as many scars as he did.

"I grant you, you're pretty strong!" Joe admitted to 009. She flipped her hair back and another acceleration race began.

"I don't care about that! I will let you know when I start to care, which is never!" 009 called back, getting in a single punch.

"I thought 000 told me…" Joe began, firing a newly discovered gun at her.

"I did care before! I pretend to care! I've never cared for anyone before!" 009 screamed, ruby eyes glinting with rage.

"This is so much fun!" 006 squealed, hovering with the help of her purple rockets. Chang was blowing flames at her, but she simply sent them right back with a purple forcefield.

**_((song continues just a tad bit slower))_**

**_Somewhere after midnight  
In my wildest fantasy  
Somewhere just beyond my reach  
There's someone reaching back for me  
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat  
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet_**

Julia tumbled backwards, the second hour of the fight coming up fast. One last time and then I'll call Angelina, she thought. All the fighting girls already had blood dripping from more than ten places, and Florence seemed to just be sapping energy from it. Julia gathered the last fragments of energy and launched herself at the black figure.

Sophia's help in training was paying off at long last. Julia slid across the floor, then laid back, and kicked up to Black Ghost's jewels. Needless to say, he hardly felt it. Julia jumped up, lifting him up with her. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, giving her all the benefits of an iced mocha. Her hands clung to the black fabric, and her face was knotted into a snarl. Julia looked up into the yellow eyes with no pity at all.

"Farewell," She jeered, drawing him back and sending him flying forward at a shocking velocity. All the adrenaline was gone. The girl was an empty shell with no power at all, leaving her very vulnerable.

Black Ghost stood, brushed himself off, then walked in a stately manner toward the twelve-year old girl. This child was ready for whatever he had waiting for her. But maybe she didn't. He stood close to her, both sets of eyes looking for prey. He picked her up by the collar of her shirt and looked into her green eyes.

"I always win, Julia Minorca. Do not mess with me. You will never destroy me," Black Ghost taunted. He drew her upwards and back, then sent her crashing down through the floor into the bowels of the base. Celeste ran to try and grab Julia's hand, or anything, to haul Julia back up. Julia's shocked green eyes cried out as she fell further away from Celeste's reach. "Now, who's next?"

"I AM!" Celeste roared, her cheerfulness gone. Icy venom controlled her voice now, ready to kill. "You hurt her, I hurt you." The gun in her hands fired freely.

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER?" Emma's voice screamed. She came flying in from the doors on a cloud, fire burning her hair. In her hands was a fainted 003, and Jet was behind her on his rockets with 002 ready to drop down.

"Angelina!" Rene hissed into the forgotten speaker. "You had better get here soon. We need all the help we can get for this,"

"Will do." Angelina replied.

Celeste was beyond description. Her face was burning with the fury of her parents, of her friends, of her cousin, and of her grandfather. The aquamarine eyes long since had passed being lovely, and now they captured Julia's fury. Florence had her tapering fingers wrapped around Julia's baton, twirling it with vigor.

"Let's finish it off!" Celeste roared. Florence sent the baton flying like a boomerang right into Black Ghost's head. Celeste and Rene fired together from opposite sides, shouting directions back and forth.

(Joe!) Francoise gasped. (What were you thinking, teaching her that?)

(Hey! It wasn't me!) Joe replied.

(It was us,) Emma said.

"I know how much you all love Miss Zero's help, but I'm afraid her time has come to leave you now," Black Ghost said, a small keypad in his right hand.

Emma paled. "You wouldn't dare."

Celeste saw the flaw. Emma was occupying Black Ghost, and Black Ghost was paying attention to her.

"All of you," She muttered into the speaker. "Fire right now."

And seven laser shots came, all directed at the black skull. But they were mistaken that anything would happen to him.

Beams of periwinkle light ripped through Emma's body, tearing it into pieces. Emma screamed brutally as she was torn, then her small body was silhouetted by the light, then exploded.

0021 stood in her place, crying tears of regret and sorrow. Then her face turned to hate and rage, and she summoned Emma's cloud back.

"I CAN BRING HER BACK!" She cried out of anger.

"Foolish cyborg, you think you can do that?" Black Ghost teased.

"I damn sure can and damn sure will! Emma isn't dead yet, and she never will be!" 0021 screamed, periwinkle lightning flying from her fingers.

"Julia," Sophia gasped. "Oh no. This is bloody terrible,"

Julia was at least fifty feet down, bleeding enough to dye Florence's hair red. There were so many bruises and fractures; it was hardly even possible to say she was still alive.

"Where is she?" Jet demanded.

"Down," Sophia answered. "Down."

"Crap." He muttered. He fired up his rockets and flew down.

Yes, calling her a mangled mess was being complimentary. The brittle gel had long since cracked and let her hair fall down, and let it be dyed the color of blood. Jet swooped down and cradled her in his arms. A jagged gash ran on the left side of her face from her eyebrow to her neck, bleeding freely. Her right eye was swollen and rapidly turning from purple to black. Several large and deep cuts ran along her arms, legs and chest. There were probably quite a few broken bones, but no one could be sure quite then.

Jet draped Julia's arms around his neck, swung her legs over his right arm and flew right back up to join everyone else.

"Celeste!" Jet shouted.

"What?" She demanded.

Interruption! The Dolphin broke through the top of the building, sending huge chunks of debris down on unsuspecting people. Angelina leapt out once they were close enough to the ground, orange cape billowing behind her. Jet flew toward the vessel, carrying Julia still with extreme care.

001 woke up.

0021's sprinkler service started working. ((rain from the cloud))

**_((song swells at ultra-fast tempo now, piano solo with lead vocal))_**

**_Up where the mountains meet the heavens above  
Out where the lightning splits the sea  
I would swear that there's someone somewhere  
Watching me_**

The spirit of the newcomer re-ignited the other's worn-down flames. Angelina was ready to burn Black Ghost to embers, if need be. 0021 had the room turning fast into a pool, half a foot deep already. 001 was on her feet, green uniform and all. The other Megas were still out cold.

"How many is quite a few?" Madison demanded, green eyes turning from rage to all-out fury. She stood near where Julia lay in the Dolphin's infirmary, ready to fight anyone who dared near her.

Issac bit his lip. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Madison put her hands on her hips. "No, of course I don't. That's why I'm ready to kill that son of a ((CENSORED!)) for doing this!"

Issac sighed in defeat. This woman was worse than Julia being mad at you was. May as well get it over with now, he thought. "She cracked one of her ribs, a miracle within itself, dislocated her left shoulder as well as breaking her right arm, broke her nose, broke her right foot, and she's twisted her left ankle to an impossible angle. Her neck was only slightly twisted, but it's already been taken care of. Her cuts run very, very deep, especially that one on her face…and I don't know if she'll ever see again."

"But will she be alright." Jet asked. Maybe both had been better off not knowing the truth.

"Hopefully, yes." Issac answered. In truth, with all Julia's problems, the fates were against it happening. "But does she still have the problems from when she was younger?"

Madison jumped a little. "Yes, she still has that ((CENSORED! Man, this woman has a dirty mouth!)) weak immune system. Aside from her eyes being bad, there's nothing else that we need to worry about. Unless is started to rain, which it has."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear any of that," Celeste said. Issac had completely forgotten about the speaker.

The water outside had now reached Florence's knees, and was slowing everyone's motions down. Angelina, although she was hydrophobic, relaxed with the water. It meant that everyone else had too suffer, too.

Black Ghost aimed at 0021, who was flying on a fleet of clouds, controlling the sprinkler system of rain. 001 stood up and cast a green shield of lightning from her hands, not only to protect 0021, but herself.

Everyone received a shock. Liana was pretty freaked out about it, but she'd been through much worse.

"Foolish little girl, what was that for?" Black Ghost asked.

"You never said I couldn't protect my fellow teammates," 001 snapped. "You only said I couldn't work with them."

"Miss Wong, I saved you life, did I not?" Black Ghost was using his honey-coated steel bar again.

"I can't say I willingly traded it in, that I can't. My old life…" 001 answered, not letting her guard down. "I was ready for that. You stole my chance away from me! IT WAS YOUR FAULT I NEVER MADE IT!"

All ((CENSORED!)) hell broke loose at that point. The Megas awakened as one, 002 igniting her rockets and flying up with 006. 006's purple uniform with gold buttons was being torn to shreds, as was the blue uniform with gold buttons on 002. None of them looked very happy, especially 001.

"001, we have awakened to destroy you," 002, 003, 004 and the rest said in unison. 001 let down the green shield to let them attack.

"Go ahead, but I'm not going alone," 001 said with more courage than she had. The Megas flew toward her, ready to cast down the possible rebel.

"HELL NO YOU CAN'T!" 0021 screamed. A blazing pillar fire encircled 001 and her five feet around, going to the heavens. "I get to repay my debt to you now, Stephanie. I'm sorry it's so late on arrival, but the postage was extra."

The Megas all wore tattered rags now instead of uniforms.

"If you wanted that, Miss Hashe, you could have told me earlier," Black Ghost laughed a sickening laugh.

"I've got two words for you that you taught me a long time ago," 0021 said with high amusement riding on her voice. "ACCELERATION MODE!"

The sound barrier was no longer a barrier for 0021. The fire pillar was gone, as was the water. Everything slowed down through the ondango-head's eyes as she moved at the speed of mach five, then pulled the gun from her skirt's pocket. The bullets appeared to come from thin air when she fired, but no one knew it was her.

Black Ghost laughed at the girl's plight. The Megas stood ready to die in the center of the room, 001 debating whether to go with 0021.

0021 took one final shoot before slowing down toward what she though was Black Ghost's head. Her shot was perfect. As she came out of acceleration, the bullet was just about to pierce the black mask.

**_Through the wind and the chill and the rain  
And the storm and the flood  
I can feel his approach  
Like the fire in my blood_**

A storm was blowing in outside. 0021 called it inside as the bullet pierced the mask…

And the Megas exploded into beams of their color; Black Ghost standing weakened where they had been. 0021 was showing no mercy to anyone at this point.

They had destroyed Emma Jessica Hashe. Why should she show mercy?

"I want an honest fight with one of the humans," Black Ghost ordered.

"Well, who wants to?" Celeste asked.

"You should," Angelina said. "You have enough energy to power a city. Give him hell from me,"

"Me too," Rene agreed.

Celeste stepped forward toward the person that had killed Julia, according to her. The anger inside her was some Julia would have trouble comparing with.

(Has she lost her mind?) 0021 demanded.

(I don't think so, Emma. She's as mad as Jet is over Julia.) Ivan answered her.

(But what is that ((CENSORED!)) going to do to her?) Joe wondered.

(Hopefully he won't harm her,) Francoise mumbled.

(Fat chance of that happening,) Britain said.

(Aren't you a big help, Uncle Britain,) 0021 said.

"Celeste Maria. I wish to fight you." Black Ghost said.

"No freakin' da," Celeste said.

"I will fight like a human, as will you." He said.

"Guns?" Celeste asked.

"I lay mine down,"

"I don't trust you."

"Guns."

"You've got yourself your death warrant signed, okey-dokey? As soon as one of us is down, the other has won."

"And the one that is down dies?"

"If you must,"

"Have we a deal?"

"Yes."

"All who are here are witnesses to this."

The two stood facing one another, Celeste's yellow cape flying behind her in a strong gust of wind. Joe and Francoise wanted to take her and hold her back, but she'd deny it and go on fighting if they did. Fire raced along her veins, the sound of her heart thumping was in her ears.

"Go, all of you. Get where it's safe." She said boldly into the microphone. "Get into the Dolphin and watch from there. I don't want any of you who didn't want this hurt,"

They slowly obeyed, and the aquamarine eyes watched them the whole way inside to where it was safe. Once they were all in, she turned to face Black Ghost.

"I wish you luck, Celeste." He said.

"As I, to you." Celeste replied. She fired her laser, then took off running. Black Ghost shot at her, but she dodged each and every one. The adrenaline flying through her body enabled her to stoop and grab Julia's lost red baton, then twirled it as Florence had been doing.

"What is she, crazy?" Jet asked in disbelief. He watched as thirteen-year old Celeste sprang over the hole and keep shooting the whole time.

"Not as crazy as Julia was," 0021 said. The storm was starting to turn the white room into a swimming pool again. Celeste sent the baton at Black Ghost like a boomerang as he ran after her, though not quite as fast.

"TAKE THAT!" Celeste screamed, stopping and sucker punching Black Ghost. The adrenaline was still flowing strong, lucky for her. She picked up running again as soon as he stopped, firing so she could easily hit him. He started running again, with only a quarter of the speed Celeste was doing.

He shot.

She took the shoot in her left arm, but kept going. Blood spilled out on the ground, making Florence gasp.

Celeste shot the final round in her gun.

Black Ghost took seven.

Celeste turned and ran back as he fell.

**_((song slows down to fairly slow dance tempo))_**

"I win," She declared, holding the blaster to his head.

"So you did…" He said. "Or maybe not!"

"YOU ((CENSORED)) ((MAJOR CENSORED!))" Florence shrieked. A vein throbbed in her temple.

She grabbed her blaster and ran back out to help Celeste, not caring what would happen to her.

"You're down, Celeste. I get to kill you now," Black Ghost taunted.

"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!" Florence roared, firing her laser.

The laser went through Black Ghost's head. Celeste turned and used Julia's cheerleading move one last time, knocking him dead.

"Let me finish this piece of shit off," Jet said. "0021?"

0021 sent ice from her fingers, freezing the ebony figure. Jet flew toward the hole overhead, and flew out to the ocean. There, he dumped the sick son of a ((CENSORED!)) into the icy depths, never to be seen again.

He returned to see Celeste picking up the baton, and swooped lower to pick her up in his arms.

"Hey!" She said, surprised.

"Oh, you're not going to say anything but that to me?" Jet asked, pretending to be upset.

"No, not that. This reminds me of my birthday when you did the same thing." Celeste replied, laughing. "Do you mind if you have a red shirt?"

"Yes, why?" Jet asked. Like he didn't know.

"You know why, so let's go back down now. You have Julia to worry about, not me right now." Celeste said. Jet descended again with her, letting her stand up. She jumped back down into the Dolphin, and he shortly followed her.

"COME ON!" Celeste shouted, dragging her Uncle Jet. She hauled him to the infirmary, where she left him be with Julia, Issac and Madison. Celeste ran off to the control room again, where Angelina was just getting ready for their departure.

"Co-pilot?" Angelina asked Celeste.

"Sure, why not?" Celeste asked, relaxing into the chair.

"Angelina?" Rene said nervously.

"What's up?" Angelina asked, swiveling around.

"Don't look now, but a bomb just went off."

"Shit."

**_((speed it out to the end at molto rallenando!))_**

**_I need a hero  
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night  
He's gotta be strong  
And he's gotta be fast  
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight_**

"YOU DAMNED BUCKET OF BOLTS!" Angelina screamed. They were flying at top speed, but it wasn't enough to get away from the clouds of fire that were headed their way.

(Ivan,) 0021 said.

(Yes?) He asked back.

(Let's help them one last time.) She said.

(Take as much as you need.) He replied.

(You too,) She said.

(Why?) He demanded.

(We're becoming one. Get ready.) 0021 said as the two magnetically zoomed together, linking arms. White-hot lightning raced through both teenagers, and they blazed with white light.

Right as the fire was about to capture them, a white forcefield surged around and protected them from the final fire. Angelina didn't slow down, though. She and Celeste kept moving at top speeds.

"There's a…you'd rather not know." Sophia said. "Where'd you put those contacts from when we were in England?"

"Bathroom, take the tracker, and tell 0021 to get you wherever it is. Oh, take someone with you." Angelina replied, finding out about the squadron of jets.

Sophia wasted no time racing to the bathroom and popping the contacts in. She remembered the feeling of having all-around vision, but she didn't welcome the change in vision. 0021 was waiting outside.

"I'll get you onto the commander's jet," 0021 said. "I'm going with ya. I don't really wanna be stuck here with Mister Jet for a while."

Periwinkle light floated down like mist upon the two, then flashed around them. They were standing in a small cargo bay, most definitely not their own. There were a few childish pranks hidden, but not very much else.

0021 kicked down the door to the cockpit. Inside was a pair of pilots, one male and the other female. The female turned around, ice blue eyes flashing with danger.

"Oh crud." 0021 said.

It was 0022 and 0023.

"Hey 0023, would you mind sending the order?" 0022 asked.

"I'm watching this and hating it more and more," Celeste said from the earpiece. "Hurry up and kick the crud out of them!"

"No da!" 0021 said, kicking 0022's head. He flicked a switch and turned to face Sophia and 0021. 0023 laughed.

"You idiots thought everything went up in flames, did you not? Well, that was the entire plan! Destroy Black Ghost, then set off the bomb, chase you down, kill you, bio-bomb the entire planet. End of story!" 0023 exclaimed, throwing aside the pranks. "We're ready to destroy you now."

"I doubt that's ever going to happen," Sophia said, kicking 0023.

"Wonderful!" Celeste shouted. "Knock her out, and 0021, you take on 0022! Come on, we're going to Japan! That's enough inspiration for me to knock 'em dead!"

"Shall we?" Sophia asked 0021.

"With pleasure!" 0021 replied, energetically punching 0022. 0022 tried to grab his gun, but 0021 took it instead and knocked him out cold over the head with it.

Sophia kicked 0023 again, then spun, punched, punched, kicked, kicked and did one final punch. 0023 punched and kicked Sophia once, then collapsed into a red heap.

"Ready to head back?" 0021 asked.

"Not yet," Sophia said. She pressed a button. "To all ships, drop out. Repeat, drop out."

"How about now?" 0021 asked.

"You bet!" Sophia answered.

The periwinkle light came again, returning the girls to the Dolphin.

"Good, there's someone else here. Sophia, get on radar." Angelina commanded, completely immersed in her workings. Sophia sat down at the radar screen and watched it like a hawk.

"Shouldn't it be faster by sea?" Celeste asked.

"Yes, I suppose so. Prepare to dive." Angelina replied.

They dove to the turbulent sapphire waters, gray from the storm. Celeste calmed down a bit once they were a good depth under.

"Is there any caffeine around?" Celeste asked.

"Here," Liana said, tossing her a Coke. "Lots of sugary stuff."

Celeste popped the can open, letting the soda fizz. She drank greedily from the can, tilting her head back to let the froth slide down. After a long gulp, the red can was pulled away from her lips and she wiped her chin on her wrist.

Sophia leaned back, sighing deeply and gazing into the blue beyond. It was interesting to watch since it was always moving about, but it bored her after about five minutes.

**_I need a hero  
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light  
He's gotta be sure  
And it's gotta be soon  
And he's gotta be larger than life_**

"But where will we go once we're in Japan?" Joe asked. "I don't think we should go to Tokyo…"

"We'll see if Kazumi is still there," Issac replied. "The last I heard from him was three years ago. That can change a lot of things,"

Narrow beams of sunlight escaped into the depths of the Sea of Japan, where they were currently located. Between Celeste and Liana, three cases of Coke had been emptied the previous night. Celeste was moving around like a zombie, with Angelina on her computer with the data scanner on.

"There isn't anything we need, is there?" Ivan asked Angelina. She turned to him, pushing the scanner away from her eyes.

"You'd be shocked to see what I found." She replied.

"What?" Ivan demanded, clicking the mouse in hope to click something good open.

"I can't believe you didn't understand why I was wearing this," Angelina mused, pulling the device snug around her head. "As it turns out, the desktop I got this time around was some general's. It's coded, so you have to use the scanner."

"Keep on going," Ivan said. "Was it like 0023 said, was it planned?"

"Yes, it was. They were planning to just bio-bomb as Celeste was fighting, but I guess someone forgot to flip a switch." Angelina explained.

"0021?" Sophia dashed in, panting.

"Yup!" 0021 returned, crawling out from under the computer.

"Come with me," Sophia said.

"Why?" 0021 asked, standing up.

"Julia," Sophia answered, running back. 0021 followed her, no longer looking very happy-go-lucky.

Julia looked dead under all the tubes, with her face white as snow. 0021 wore a grim expression as she saw the kick butt girl fighting for her very life.

"You're going to have to do most of the work," 0021 said. "Shove over, Jet."

Jet moved slightly away from Julia's head, where 0021 then laid her hands. Caked-up blood shed on her fingers and flaked from Julia's scalp as she did. 0021 closed her own eyes and periwinkle light sprang from her fingers.

Periwinkle flicks danced over Julia's various slashes, working to heal them. 0021's neck snapped backwards and her eyes flashed open, beaming like floodlights with periwinkle lightning. Julia's left foot spun around, returning to its normal position. 0021 removed her hands and sank to the ground.

"There isn't anything more I can do," She said, exhausted. "Do you think you know anyone who is another miracle worker?"

"We just might," Issac said.

"But what if…" Jet began.

"I think I know who you're talking about," 0021 said. "Northern Japan?"

"We're there!" Celeste shouted. "Northern Japan is where we are as of right this moment!"

"Shall we ask?" 0021 said.

"I suppose," Issac returned. "Three years can't change much, can it?"

"I hope you're right, for her sake." 0021 said, stroking Julia's hair. "The Kazumi family is who you're talking about, right?"

"Yes," Issac said.

"Then let's hurry, there isn't very much time to loose. 0021 said. "There's not going to be a tomorrow for Julia if nothing short of a miracle happens in under five hours."

"That's all?" Jet asked.

"Unless you want to take a great risk," 0021 said.

"Do it." Jet answered. 0021 dragged her fingers down along Julia; ice flowing from the fingers as 0021 went along. Julia was soon a very green and red ice sculpture, chances of survival minimized further.

"Congratulations, you bought yourself and Julia a little bit more time." 0021 said. "But we still need to hurry."

As 0021 made her way out with all the others, (all but Julia, Madison, Ivan and Angelina) she saw the mansion on the cliff. She'd heard about a mansion on a cliff from Uncle Britain, about a giant robot that attacked while he was there, and how he fought it off single-handedly. Pssshht, yeah right.

The crowd made their way up. At last, they reached the door. Issac stepped up to the bronze knocker and gave it a few hard raps.

"Just a minute!" A voice shouted from indoors, undistinguishable from male or female.

The door creaked open to show a shadow. "Gilmore-sensei?"

**_I NEED A HERO!_**


	10. Genevieve WHO?

That last chapter was long, was it not? Try twenty-one pages on Microsoft Word long! I swear, that was going to be like, the seventh chapter. But nope, I made ya all wait! I'm sorry for the wait, but I think you've all been waiting to meet these last couple of characters.

Uoha…I have been updating pretty fast! Wow! I'm glad that I have been, though. I think everyone who played a part in the last chapter's song was surprised. There was no song in the original chapter, believe me or not. Rose tried to imagine herself in a dress…yes, I am scarred for life by that image. I found out that Joe doesn't play piano, too. My fingers are FLAKING! Oh yes. The winter concert, peeps! RED TROMBONE GANG AND CLARINETS FORVER! Too much pounding keys on the computer keyboard and on the clarinet and too much pulverizing the slide! Whee!

Very special thanks to lilanimefan1 and Kacie (aka Gothic) for giving me the lyrics! Hey, without them, I would still be screaming at my DVD player for not showing the lyrics on subtitles. Now Anzu and Sora are actually trying to get me to _stop_ singing along…

Thank you one and all! This has become my most reviewed story ever! Jeez, and I thought this idea was way overused…

SEND IN YOUR CHARACTERS NOW! ONLY TWO MORE PEOPLE ARE BEING TAKEN! :runs by screaming with SWAT, FBI, CIA, and highway patrol on her tail, Anzu and Sora out in front on a helicopter:

I bought the rights to Cyborg 009! Yay! :gets attacked by random SWAT dude number 55306 ((me student ID number! Ironic, ne?)): PRINCESS MIKA SHALL RETURN!

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Ten: Genevieve WHO?

-&-&-&-&-

The door creaked open to show a shadow. "Gilmore-sensei?"

It was a female's voice, obviously a female's. The shadow came out of the doorway, revealing silky black layered hair. It was an older female, maybe in her late twenties or early thirties. Her pale green eyes were striking against the pale skin, which contrasted further with the indigo sweater and khaki flares.

"Hello, do I know you?" Issac asked.

The woman laughed. "Hai, hai. I am Genevieve Kazumi."

"Genevieve WHO?" Jet asked, astonished.

The woman laughed again. "Come in, please. My grandfather will be pleased to see you,"

The odd bunch walked into the mansion, following Genevieve. They reached a huge living room with an entire wall of sliding glass, which was showing the fantastic sunrise at the present.

"It can't be!" A male's voice exclaimed. They turned away from the glass. There sat Dr. Kazumi in an armchair, looking comfortable and shocked.

Kazumi hadn't appeared to age very much in those fifteen years. Joe nearly keeled over from the mere shock that they were seeing him again…again.

"Please, sit!" Genevieve said, realizing that she had been rude. Joe and Francoise sat down on a couch, and Celeste sat in her daddy's lap. The others found places on the ground and in various armchairs, and Jet sat next to Joe.

"We all have a lot of explaining to do, do we not?" Kazumi asked. "I will begin. This is my granddaughter, Genevieve. The others are around; they'll come out eventually. After you left, my daughter vanished and her children were left without parents. I invited them to come live with me, which they all gratefully accepted. I had thought you had all gone on to different places, but seeing you…"

"Our story is much longer," Florence said. "I've pieced together my knowledge. I don't want any of you interrupting me."

Florence had always been good at figuring out problems.

"Now, fifteen years ago was when this started." Florence began. Albert nodded. "You were spies, as we were told. None of us had ever met for some unknown reason. We all knew Ivan as our cousin, but nothing more than that. That was a clue to something. Then there was the Dolphin. Had you been spies, you would have covered your fingerprints and left everything seemingly untouched. When we found Emma, she caused the rain outside as we were travelling. Later it was explained that she was a cyborg."

0021 bobbed her head, eyes wide.

"The Megas Project arrived. They evidently didn't have magic, so what caused it? And why were they attacking _us_, of all people?

"So, I want to know this. I didn't give you the full version of my knowledge in hopes not to bore you to death, but I'm pretty sure I've gotten the right information. Grandpa…be honest this time to me. Are 001 through 009 in The Cyborg Project our parents and Ivan, or am I just insane?"

0021 stopped playing with her cape. "Florence, can we tell you later?"

"When Julia comes back, yes." Florence replied.

"Julia!" Celeste exclaimed.

And thus, another explanation began.

-&-&-&-

About half an hour later, Julia was frozen down in the amazing infirmary of the Kazumi residence. Genevieve ran her hands over the smooth ice, frowning as she did.

"This is nightmarish…" She uttered. "Maybe you can heat her up?"

"Most certainly I can," 0021 said, tracing her fingers along the ice. This time, the ice flew backwards into her fingers, leaving a worse for the wear Julia.

"Only twelve, you say?" Genevieve asked.

"Yep, that's Julia for you," Celeste answered.

Genevieve sighed. "Do you think we can?"

"My dear, of course you can." Kazumi replied. "You've finished college, and I will not stop you. But you may want to call at least Haruna down, she can help."

Genevieve turned to Celeste and Rene. "Upstairs in the kitchen, if you can find it, you'll find two people. Tell them that Genevieve needs Haruna urgently. If Haruka asks, she can come too."

The two left to find the kitchen. The house was vast with many misleading corridors to take, and many of the rooms had a glass wall that looked out onto the sea. At last, the two reached the kitchen.

It was impressive to say the least. There was a marble counter island at the center with a sink and four burners, then a stove, microwave, two refrigerators, and various other kitchen utensils around the perimeter. Two girls stood by the island, and these girls were identical in every way. They had the same dark brown hair with a ponytail in it, the same denim jacket, and the same cargo skirt. It was pretty freakish.

"Haruna?" Celeste asked nervously. One of the girls looked up.

"Hai?" The girl looking up asked. Her eyes were a lovely shade of iridescent green.

"Genevieve says that she needs you downstairs urgently," Celeste said.

"Must be pretty serious for _her_ to call _us_," The other girl said. "Six years older than us, and she _still_ thinks she's better. She's twenty-seven, and…oh, never mind. Did she say Haruka could come?"

"Hai, she did." Celeste answered.

"Well then, that's a different case." The first girl said. "I'm Haruna, and this is Haruka. If you couldn't guess, we're identical twins."

"No, Haruna, we're fraternal." Haruka said, tugging Haruna's ponytail. The two continued fighting as they made their way back down the long halls, Celeste and Rene about a minute behind them.

There was a new door opened this time. The sun was orange and pink, spilling out over the sea like melted butter on toast. A sliding glass door was open, and a girl stood out on a deck. Rene looked in at the circular glass room and stepped in. The girl outside turned around.

"Ohan, who are you?" She asked. Her voice was light. She had pretty dark brown hair that curled at the ends, hazel eyes, and wore a paint-splattered white sweater and regular old denim flares.

"Gomen for the rude entry," Celeste said. The girl waved her hand and smiled.

"Iie, iie. No need for that." She said, hair flying in a breeze.

"I'm Celeste, and this is Rene." Celeste said. Rene waved.

"Lovely. My name is Tamaki," The girl replied.

Celeste looked around. The entire room was glass and had a theme of circles. Tamaki's bed was a circle, her sheets had circles on them, there were plants with circular pots, a circle nightstand, an amazing circular dresser, and to complete everything, a circular bulletin board that was pale blue. For light, there was a blue crystal chandelier hanging with baubles dropping down to five feet from the ground.

"So, what brings you here?" Tamaki asked, sitting on an unseen circular floor mat. "My dad? Genevieve? Haruna? Haruka?"

"No, actually. Our parents are friends with your grandfather," Rene answered. Tamaki nodded, signaling for them to sit down.

"I've never heard that my dad had any friends, but then again, I'm only fifteen. Genevieve wouldn't tell us if she knew." Tamaki said. "She's already finished college, and now she wants us all to hurry up and get through. What does she think, we're super people?"

"How many of there are you?" Rene asked.

"Let's see….Genevieve is twenty-seven, Hideki is twenty-four, Haruna and Haruka are twenty-one, Elyon is eighteen, I'm fifteen, Kiyoshi is fourteen, Midori just turned eleven, Hana will be ten in a month, and Michiko is five. So, that makes ten of us. I overheard that our mom is coming soon…and bringing more than one this time." Tamaki said.

"I thought your mom was dead!" Celeste exclaimed.

"We wish she was. She's a prostitute in northern Tokyo." Tamaki calmly replied. Rene and Celeste watched her with open concern for mental issues. Tamaki noted their astonishment and let them figure it out.

"Tama-chan, you're up early again," A man said, stopping inside. Tamaki turned.

"Hideki, give me a few lead bricks to swim with while you're at it," Tamaki snapped. To Rene and Celeste, she said, "This is Hideki. Professional pain in the rear, he is."

"Do you know where Haruna is?" Hideki asked Tamaki.

"Downstairs," Celeste answered.

"Domo!" He called, running down the twisting hall.

"Why are they downstairs?" Tamaki asked. "We never go down there. We've all seen what it's like, but we don't really get to that part of the house. Ever."

"Then we have explaining to do," Celeste said.

-&-&-&-

"Ready or not, here I come!" Tamaki shouted into the warm Japanese early winter day.

Outside, everyone under the age of twenty-one was playing hide and seek, or at least, those that hadn't married. Tamaki ran around like a whirlwind, searching to find the hidden children.

"Michiko! Found you!" Tamaki whispered. A little girl shuffled out from behind a tree, wearing a red jumper, white shirt, and a red hat with a sunflower pin. Her hair was dusty brown, and her eyes were, like Genevieve's, pale green. The tiny little feet had white socks and red May Jane's, just for added cuteness. ((AWWWW! DON'T YA WANNA HUG HER?))

"Come on and help me find the others, Michi!" Tamaki whispered, tugging her little sister's hand. Michiko laughed and ran across the grassy plain.

"They're never gonna find me, never gonna find me," 0021 sang. She was sitting up in a tree, combing out her hair. Someone climbed up twenty minutes later.

"Jeez, trying giving me a heart attack!" 0021 snapped.

An older girl was in the tree with her. The girl had glossy black hair that was hanging down in two braids, forest green eyes, slightly tanned skin, and wore a gray scarf, gray off the shoulder long-sleeve shirt with a black kanji character on it, dark blue jeans, and black tennis shoes.

"We're the only ones they haven't found yet!" The new girl giggled. "I'm Elyon."

0021 beamed. "Just call me 0021 for right now."

"Ok….0021." Elyon answered.

"Sophia! Start searching trees with me!" Celeste called. Sophia ran up into the nearest tree in search of the two girls.

"Kiyoshi, Midori and Hana, search by the old garden wall," Tamaki commanded. The three ran off to do as they were told.

"FOUND 'EM!" Celeste shouted. Midori stopped running and tumbled over laughing.

"Darn you!" 0021 said.

"Hey, we're hard to find, aren't we?" Elyon asked. "Let's go inside and see what else we can do!"

"Do any of you have a computer?" Angelina questioned.

"Mi-chan does," Midori chirped. She had hair the color of cardboard and hazel eyes. The sweatshirt she wore was yellow with a winking smiley face, and her denim skirt was so frayed, it looked ready to rip in two. Midori's green socks stretched up to her knees, and her blue shoes seemed out of place.

"Do you like hacking?" Angelina asked.

Kiyoshi snorted. "That's like asking if Tama-chan likes circles at all,"

"Well, how are they supposed to know?" Tamaki demanded, yanking his mousy chocolate colored hair. ((NOT chocolate covered, mind you.)) "They just got here, and heaven knows what they've been through. Kiyo, you're as bad as Hi-hi! And with the twenty-two year age span between all of us, you just go expecting us to all go along!"

-&-&-&-

"DON'T YOU DARE DO IT!" Hana screamed, toppling the couch pillows over onto Liana's head.

Inside four hours later were the majority of the small army, camped out in front of the huge TV screen. Joe and Francoise sat next to one another, Celeste below them eating popcorn with Midori and Sophia. Hana, the younger image of Haruna and Haruka, was yelling at the characters on the screen.

Midori wasn't as mild-mannered as she seemed to be. Midori was a loaded pistol with a nasty flair for html coding, giving it away, but the coding had viruses hidden within it. The unlucky downloader would figure it out only too late. Up until she turned ten, she was never punished. But once her grandfather busted her in the act, there was a time limit placed on the computer, but Midori cracked it in two and went back on. She proceeded to send her school a virus, corrupt the school board system, and it wasn't even the start.

And Midori Kazumi just turned eleven.

Elyon Kazumi is a whole 'nother can 'o' worms. Elyon had been studying music since she could climb her way onto the piano bench and pound keys. She had taken the music program in her school, followed through until high school, and is still going strong. All day, she sits in her apple tree and practices a different instrument. On the days she play trumpet, the others remind her to take the mute out with her so they can sleep an extra hour or so.

I can ramble on and on about each of the separate residents, but I won't. One thing I will tell you is that there's a twenty-two year age span from Genevieve to Michiko. Genevieve was twelve when the original cyborgs left, and shortly moved in with Hideki, who was nine, and Haruna and Haruka were only six. Genevieve and Hideki were from Keiko Kazumi's first marriage, Haruna and Haruka the only children from her second marriage. After that, all the other children had been born as ((pardon my Japanese)) bastards.

Now that the younger margin of the Kazumis were hooked on the TV, they had all become the same age again. All but the Link family was upstairs, watching some action movie, chosen by Hana and Midori. Celeste could read the Japanese subtitles flying across the screen, and Midori decided to change to French. Celeste read the French titles just as easily.

"How do you know both?" Midori asked in Japanese.

"My parents," Celeste replied in the same language.

**BAM.**

"And it was just getting good!" 0021 complained. Hana shut off the DVD player and looked out the window.

"You may want to see this," She said in horror.

"What do they think we are, punching bags?" Tamaki asked. "Seventh time in three months! Ok, everyone, we have to fill in for four people! Let's get in lockdown and take it from there!"

Celeste looked out the window. She didn't like what she saw.

0022 and 0023 were outside with the entire Megas Project ((GOTCHA! Nope, your favorite antagonists are back!)), 006 firing a cannon with 002 curled up inside. 0022 was shouting some command, and the Megas and 0023 followed it.

"Let's go!" Celeste shouted.

"Right on it!" 0021 cheerfully called, bouncing her way out. Celeste was right behind her with the others on her tail.

"SURPRISE, SURPRISE, CELESTIA!" 009 screamed, standing in her usual pink clothing choice.

"Attack, my cyborgs!" 0022 shouted. The Megas obeyed. 006 fired 002 at 0021 ((that was confusing!)), the other Megas began firing, and 0023 stood by his side.

"Oh, what?" 0023 asked. "Our father was Black Ghost. You didn't think you finished this so easily, did you? You still have to go through us two. Behold!"

And the pieces fell into place in Florence's head.

0021 was violently shaking; fists clenched and face tight. Periwinkle sparks jumped from her entire body as she shook, then she let it all go.

"YOU DESTROYED EMMA! IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU, MAYBE THIS WOULD HAVE ALL BEEN OVER!" 0021 screamed. A roiling black storm cloud formed under her feet and she flew up into the skies on it. "SURRENDER NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL KILL YOU ALL AND REMOVE YOU FROM HISTORY!"

001 sent green thunder at 0021, but 0021 sent it flying back with a sweep of her hand. The ondangoes fell out of her hair, letting the light hair tumble down to slightly past her waistline. Rain fell like…well, rain, from the heavens. The sea churned at 0021's command as she flew out to meet it.

"0021! Come with us and your friends may be spared!" 0023 called.

"NEVER!" 0021 bellowed back, sending strong winds at the cyborg. "AND IT'S NOT 0021! IT'S ZERO!"

009 spun a wheel of pink lightning at Zero. Zero held up one hand and deflected the blow with a shield of fire. The fire burned blue, then caught on and turned orange. Stormy gray seas licked the bottom of Zero's storm cloud, catching rain.

"009! 008! Cease your fire upon Miss Zero!" 0022 called. 009 turned around and redirected her lightning at Florence. Florence dodged the pink jolts easily, laughing as she did.

"I've had it with you little pests! Move over, 009, I'll get rid of them!" 008 screamed, sending balls of black fire at Sophia.

"THINK AGAIN!" Zero bellowed, sending up a barrier of white fire around the girls and Ivan. 008 gnashed her teeth and tried attacking Zero instead. Zero turned the cloud around to face 008.

"Well, Zero, it's been nice knowing you," 008 smirked.

"Ditto to you," Zero replied. Both shot out their color lightning at one another, crackling and illuminating the darkening skies. Their faces were nothing but concentration, focusing on obliterating the other.

Zero's lightning started to push toward 008. 008 fought to hold strong, but started to crumple under the periwinkle beams. Zero saw the opportunity and flew down.

"Are you ready for the end?" Zero asked.

"I am prepared," 008 said, calling her lightning down. Zero snapped her lightning off at the same time.

"I hope your end is kind to you, Mizuki," Zero said, waving her hand. "Good night."

008 bowed her head and vanished. Zero sat on the ground, shaking her head. Sophia ran over to meet her.

"Is there anything I can do?" Sophia demanded.

"Make sure I don't kill myself," Zero responded. "I'm going to see if I can get the _real_ Project Zero back. If they aren't dead, then she isn't either."

Zero laid back on the grass, letting the rain pummel her freely. She closed her eyes and, as if by magic, lifted from the ground. Her limbs hung limply, dangling like Christmas ornaments from a tree. A periwinkle forcefield formed around her unconscious body, casting off light of its own. Inside, Zero was morphing.

Morphing back to Emma, back to the original Project 000, back to Project 0021.

-&-&-&-

"Tama! You have to see this!" Kiyoshi shouted from the living room. Tamaki raced in holding a paint set and began to sketch out the scene.

"I didn't know that 0021 could do such," Elyon commented. Midori had her laptop set up; her own data scanner hooked up. "And Midori, you're missing all the action. Do take it off,"

Midori shook her head. "I've made my way into that guy's operating system. No way that I'm going to get back out unless I delete it."

Joe and company were also inside the mansion with the Kazumis, not enjoying what they were seeing very much.

-&-&-&-

"ATTACK HER NOW!" 0022 roared at the Megas. 007 did a series of cartwheels, which turned into spheres of blue-green muck-ish stuff. She picked them up and hurtled them at Zero's forcefield, but with no avail. 007's bubblegum streaked hair whipped about in the strong winds that were attacking the mansion.

-&-&-&-

"Moshi moshi, you've reached Haruka Kazumi's cell phone!" Haruka greeted someone on her phone. "Leave a message after the beep noise and I'll call you back as soon as I can! Domo arigatou!"

"Moshi moshi Haruka. I was calling to ask you…"

"Spit it out! I don't have forever!" Haruka barked. She was helping Genevieve at the present, her cell phone clutched by her shoulder and chin.

"It's about…"

"Forget it, Keiko." Haruka spat, pressing "END CALL".

Keiko was Haruka's mother.

-&-&-&-&-

**MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! **

TWO MONTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CYBORG CHILDREN! THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT A SUCCESS! E-MAIL ME WITH YOUR CHARACTER SOON! PLEASE!

ONCE MORE, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! NEW STORY COMIN' TO TOWN IN JANURARY!


	11. Sing it for Me, Only Me

:comes in, holding ALL her presents: People…man oh man! I got SOOOO many awesome presents! I got Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, a new pink scarf, a 009 plushie from Sadie, and so much other cool stuff! You can't believe it O.O! WE ROASTED JET'S NUTS ON AN OPEN FIRE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! XD

((begin rambling session)) In this chapter, I mention some songs. I love the full version of Genesis of Next. IT'S SO AWESOME! And What's the Justice? That song is _wonderful_. It's nothing like Cartoon Network's rendition, even though that version is really pretty. Catch You, Catch Me from Cardcaptor Sakura ROCKS! FULL VERSION! TASOGARE NO UMI! OPEN YOUR HEART! You must all see the first unedited and uncut episode. It was **so** great. The end…they start singing What's The Justice?! "My name is…009! You've got the chance to express you…" ((end rambling session))

I wish I owned Cyborg 009. BUT I GOT THE FIRST EIGHT UNCUT UNEDITED EPISODES FOR CHIRSTMAS! BOOYA!

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Eleven: Sing it for Me, Only Me

-&-&-&-&-

"Do you have it yet?" Hana asked.

"Mi-chan doesn't, nope nope, not yet!" Midori answered, fingers flying over her keys. "But she will have it soon, very soon! She promises!"

"Ho.." Hana began.

Midori turned. "All the coding is enough to last a life time. I could hack…" She motioned to the cyborgs, "Each of them if I wanted to. It would take me a long time, but I can."

-&-&-&-

Sophia looked nervously into the bubble that held her cousin. She'd been in there for half an hour, and was radiating more light by the minute. Off a sudden instinct, she reached in a pocket and picked out a small necklace that Emma had given her as a birthday present.

_Celeste says that you can find someone in your head if you have something that they gave to you,_ Sophia remembered. Had to love that girl, yes you did. _Emma…Emma…0021…000…you're here somewhere, aren't you…?_

000 snapped awake inside her forcefield. (Sophia? No way!)

Sophia couldn't have been more surprised if 009 started worshipping her. (I found you! But how?)

(Very long story. I'll come out,) 0021 answered. The forcefield shattered into billions of periwinkle fragments. Zero stepped out, looking positively furious.

"Now, which one of you wants to try and kill me first?" Zero asked merrily. She lifted an invisible weight, palms upward. Rocks were crackling under her feet, shaking, then magically plastered themselves together.

"I'll finish her off!" 0023 crowed, jumping out to meet Zero. Zero laughed wildly.

"You dare challenge me? You dare challenge the only person who could ever smack sense into your daddy?" Zero asked. 0023 turned from hate into loathing.

"THAT WAS WHY WE WERE SENT TO KILL!" 0023 roared, fully consumed now by rage. "You were the one problem. You had too much power, so you posed a threat to us."

0021 commanded the rocks to fly toward 0023, who easily shot them.

"Shimatta!" Celeste cursed. ((MORE alliteration?!))

"_That's_ why they wanted her," Sophia realized, blue eyes mirroring her surprise. "It makes sense now. If Emma had so much power, she could overthrow operations and destroy everything they'd worked on."

"Oho, the Middle-girl's cousin finally comes to the world!" 007 laughed.

"Don't tempt me," Sophia replied viscously.

"If you want Sam-chan to do that…" 007 said.

"DAMN!" Zero shouted. "Too late now for synthesis!"

"No it ain't!" 003 called. "In fact, I'll do it!"

"SYNTHESIZE!" Zero shouted as he opened his Italian mouth. The Megas burned with blue flames, and Zero stood, believe it or not, hands outstretched commanding the flames.

The Megas vanished with the flames as Zero held her fists. All eyes watched her, expecting some move where she turned tails.

"BANISH!" Zero cried, expelling white tongues of fire. 0022 and 0023 stood looking, horrified and amazed at the same time. This was what he had feared she would do. Now it was time for their original mission to be completed.

Time for them to divide and conquer.

-&-&-&-

"Was I dreaming," Midori said, lifting the data scanner. "Or did 0021 just, like…destroy them in one simple smite?"

"You weren't dreaming," Elyon said, sitting down in an armchair. "Heavens, she could have told us that. We would have understood. Midori probably knew, and didn't want to tell so she could hack."

"I didn't know, honest, Elle. I knew about the cyborgs in this room because they were interfering with transmission signals. If I hadn't…oh, never mind, none of you would understand the rest. It's just code." Midori answered.

"You should go help them, at least." Tamaki said lightly. "They _are_ yours, are they not?"

Joe looked out the window.

Celeste was shouting out her orders, the others dashing to follow. A yellow cape billowed behind her in the wind, as did another, differently colored cape, for each. All of them had changed since he had seen them: Florence had become a strong young woman with the power to destroy, Liana would kill anyone who snuck up on her instead of vice-versa, and Celeste…Celeste had changed in many ways. Celeste had forgotten her fears and jumped in where there was room, and that meant filling in for the missing Julia.

(Are you going to help them?) Zero asked.

(Sure, why not?) Joe replied. (Right?)

(Go out and fight! Come on, we wanna see!) Midori said playfully in the cyborg's minds, causing them to gape at her. (It's the computer, not me. No offense,)

-&-&-&-

Julia opened a single green eye. All that was visible was white, white, and **more** white! Ok, yes, I'm not screwing with you. I like exclamation marks.

On with it!

Genevieve had left with Haruna, Haruka, and Hideki at about the time the band of bad guys popped up. Julia, by then, had been out for two solid days. Stitches held her face together, as well as part of her left arm.

"Where am I…and what about…Celeste!" Julia whispered, sitting herself up. Madison seemingly jumped out of thin air to hug the twelve-year-old.

"They're fine, for right now." Madison explained. "Your dad just left to help them finish off 0023 and them."

"Then I've gotta help!" Julia said, regaining more of her voice.

"No you don't!" Madison said.

"WATCH ME, WOMAN!" Julia roared, her voice back in full volume. She freed herself of her mother's grasp and threw some sheets off. Over the side of the bed for her legs, then she dropped onto the ground. Julia held onto the bed for a moment, then let go, and…

"I told you not to," Madison sighed. Julia sat crying on the ground because of the searing pain in her right ankle. "It's all right, Julia. You're fine…"

"No I'm not!" Julia wailed. She stood up again and waited for her balance. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, then a pair of shoes and her green cape, tattered and torn, but hers. This time, Julia ran all the way up the unfamiliar halls. She reached a door where cold air blew in from the crack below. Julia turned the knob, and saw something amazingly terrible.

"Accelerating will kill her!" Joe screamed.

Celeste wriggled about in 0022's arms, kicking and screeching for all she was worth. He laughed at her.

"I know that and you know that, so if you want to save her, you can…." 0022 said.

"KISS MY ASS!" Julia hollered, ignoring any and all pain. 0022 turned around in time to get a full-on punch in the face. Julia laughed. "DEFENSIVE MOVE NUMBER THREE HUNDRED SEVEN: KICK 0022 IN THE BALLS!"

Instead of her right foot, Julia spun and kicked 0022 in-between his legs with her left. He dropped Celeste and bent over in pain. Celeste didn't give her usual smile and thanks, however.

"What are you **_DOING?_**" Celeste demanded. "You almost **_DIE_** and then you come out here to help us! It's _**SUICIDE!**"_

"Like I care," Julia snorted, kicking 0022 again. "You needed help, Celeste. I don't care if it's suicide. I was supposed to be dead six years ago, anyway."

Celeste's face softened. "Here, come on. Let's get you back in there. FLORENCE!"

"What?" Florence called.

"I'll be gone for a few minutes, and if I'm not back in an hour, have fun!" Celeste shouted in return. "C'mon, Julia…!"

Julia had run at her fastest toward 0023. 0023 smirked at the child, holding up a single hand. White light radiated from it as Julia charged face-first into it.

"Got anything to tell them, pipsqueak?" 0023 asked.

(What was she thinking?) Jet demanded.

(Good question, we always wondered that about you.) Albert replied.

(HEY!) Jet snapped.

(Well, it's true!) Francoise said. (You would fight off your own accord. If you ask me, she inherited it from you.)

(Actually, Mister Jet, if you'd have stayed down there, maybe we could have avoided this bit with her.) Zero said. (She went because she can't live with sitting out. _You_ should know that better than any of them, you're her **_FATHER_**! _Celeste_ knows more about Julia, and they've only known each other for three weeks!)

(Should be any second…NOW!) Midori's voice boomed.

Lightning streaked across the sky, brilliantly flashing the visible spectrum. 0022 and 0023 were flying out to meet the lightning, weaving to stay away from the other.

(HERE IT COMES!) Midori roared.

The spectrum had run out of colors. 0022 and 0023 stood facing one another, rockets keeping them from falling into the sea. With one last spectacular blaze of blue/green/yellow/purple lightning, rain poured from the heavens and 0022 combusted.

0023 tried to enter acceleration mode, but as she did, the blaster rays of Celeste, Liana, Florence, Rene and Angelina met her.

It was over.

They had won.

_They had won!_

Rain splashed across Celeste's beaming face as she stood at the edge of the cliff, but it didn't dampen her smile. Julia's hair hung lank as she threw her arms up to meet the rain as it fell. Red water dripped from her hair, evidently, the rain was washing away the blood.

-&-&-&-

"That was AMAZING!" Hana cheered.

"I have something to ask of you now," Florence said. "Julia's returned to us. You promised me, all of you, that once she was back, we'd get the truth."

"I was waiting for that myself," Celeste added, standing up. It was three hours after their final fight, and all present in the Kazumi mansion sat in the living room.

Florence stood in the middle of the room, looking pointedly at her uncles. "Whatever you were," She said, "Tell me. I can number you. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. _009_," Florence pointed to each of them in turn. ((A/N: if you've ever seen the full and real version of What's the Justice? that's part of the opening sequence))

"Sing it for me, only me, and I won't tell the world I know." Julia said from her dad's arms. "What? My friends tell me that all the time."

"Sit down," Joe commanded. They sat on the couch, Celeste on her left foot. "Now, this began with 001."

"That's right. I am Project 001, and your parents, for Celeste both, but for the rest, your fathers, are cyborgs. They all have an ability, and none of them was given it because they asked for it. We were kidnapped off the streets at random." Ivan explained. Florence's eyes widened, then slimmed to a thin blade.

"You lied to me," Florence said, eyes downcast. "You lied to ALL of us! Don't try and tell me that it was for my own good, because it wasn't! I would have found out anyway, and I did! You wanted to postpone the shock, or rather, _intensify _it!"

"I can't say I don't agree," Sophia chimed in. "We're your own _children_, your blood, your DNA, your flesh, your bone, and we can't know the truth. Aside from everything else, we want to know _what_ we are."

"Yeah, I know that I've been Celeste Maria Shimamura my entire life, but never who I _truly_ am. I've got a name, an identification, but am I a regular girl? Am I an alien?" Celeste added.

"We were going out and hurting ourselves for you," Julia said, green eyes burning with fury. "I almost _died_ saving all of you. And now we learn it was all a **_LIE!_** You weren't spies, you were **_CYBORGS!_** YOU WERE TRYING TO PROTECT US FROM YOUR SECRET, BUT IT ENDED OUT HURTING US MORE! WHAT KIND OF PROTECTION IS **_THAT?_**"

"More than once we had to step over the line to get information on the Megas," Angelina added. "And on one occasion, it nearly cost us Emma. Emma was just a warning to show what would happen to us, wasn't she?"

"We weren't trained, we were all mild-mannered teens," Liana said, leaning against the wall. "We had to adapt to be able to get you back, to get back the people who knew us best! But after this, I think it's Grandpa and Ivan that know us the best. If we could have trusted you, you would have told us when we could understand."

"One last thing," Rene said. "Each of us had a fear. Our fears prevented us from going further. But we changed. Celeste isn't afraid to use a gun anymore, I don't think any of us are. Florence is nowhere near as afraid of blood any longer, and I can be near fire. We had to max out what we were good at, whether it be hacking, swimming, fighting, or whatever. Think about that,"

The girls were frozen in their spots, frowns pasted across their faces. Florence's eyes were burning with tears, and they teemed over and spilled down her cheeks. Celeste rose and sat down next to her, hugging the German girl as she cried. The Kazumis sat around, watching the display of fireworks go back and forth.

"I'm so very sorry. I should have told you," Zero said, trying to take some of the damage away. Julia cast her a very dirty look as she said it.

Joe looked again at the girl who sat comforting Florence. His daughter had chased and hunted them down without knowing why. She'd probably risked a lot to get to where she was. Celeste may not have been changed into a machine, but she had had to open up to very different causes for him.

"Open your heart," Julia sang softly. Celeste looked at her. "I watched your .hackSIGN DVDs."

"He was killed by a cellular phone explosion," Celeste sang.

"They scattered his ashes across the ocean," Julia returned in her line.

"The water was used to make baby lotion," Florence sang in turn.

"The wheels of promotion were set into motion!" Sophia said.

"But the sun still shines in the summer time, I'll be yours if you'll be mine. I tried to change, but I changed my mind. Think I'll have another glass of Mexican Wine," They all sang together, softly and unsure.

"She lived alone in a small apartment," Liana sang.

"Across the street from the health department." Rene answered.

"She left her pills in the glove compartment," Angelina said.

"That was the afternoon her heart went." Zero sang.

"Please, no more." Joe said. "But before we tell you anything, we want to hear what you did to get here."

"We were all called, and each of us was told to answer the phone," Florence said through her sobs. "The phone call was for our fathers, who then got zapped away with our moms. We called Grandpa, shocked out of our minds enough."

"Then to make it worse, we find out we have cousins. And we're introduced to them over the phone, not knowing. The next day, we all go to Japan, to Grandpa's house. The entire thing starts here. The spy story was born because there was no other real explanation. We accepted it, and started to accept one another. It was hard, but we got used to how we rubbed against one another." Sophia continued.

"After that, it was training. Celeste was terrified by it. We went to a mall, where Julia proceeded to sprain her wrist. As it turned out, we had met 0022. He was back about a day later, and it was pretty much Celeste who fought him off. After that stunt she pulled, Celeste went into shock for a while." Rene added.

"We flew to England to rescue Emma, who had already been turned into a cyborg. As we got to her, 0022 and 0023 attacked us. We got away with Emma after being attacked for a second time in ten minutes. Emma fell asleep for a few days after that, and then 001 showed her face. 001 and Emma went out and had an acceleration fight, in which Emma had a close brush with death." Celeste explained. Haruna choked on the coffee she was drinking.

"002 came after that. Angelina hacked a computer at Black Ghost's base, then 003 and 004 came to bring back Emma. They failed once again. This time, it was war. The entire Megas Project came, we beat them, and they revealed that they were our friends. Oh yes, that last about seven hours. Then we went to this weird circus thing and fought once again." Liana said.

"They faked us out. The Megas were never our friends. So we went to the base. I'm sure you can fill in from there," Angelina finished.

"Now tell me I wasn't right," Julia said, standing up. "Instead of making it easy, you made us learn the hard way about your secret. You sacrificed Emma so you could keep the secret away. You had _guts_ to hide it."

"Let's hear it now," Florence said.

"Will you hate us after we tell you?" Midori asked. "Oh sure, I know all about you. The reconstruction after 0011's attack, 0013 destroying Tokyo, and we even heard about 0010. So yes, I'd say I could tell them your entire story if I wanted to."

"We're not going to hate you," Florence hiccuped. "We'll need time to think about what we hear, then we'll come back."

Silence buzzed around the room as the cyborgs looked at one another. Liana sank to the ground, and Julia gave a moan of pain as she sat down again.

"It was sixteen years ago that our team was formed," Ivan began. "That was when 009 came into existence. We had all been taken in so they could reconstruct us, and that was what they did. 009 took a while to…shall we say, confront the fact that he was a cyborg. In fact, he wanted to punch my lights out because I was leading him into danger."

"009 joined us in our rebellion against Black Ghost. We came here for brief residence. At the time, we were being hunted by 0010. Once we destroyed him, 0011 came soon after, then Professor Kazumi was kidnapped…" Francoise continued. She was only stopped when Tamaki held up her hand.

"You say 'Professor Kazumi'. Does that mean my father, grandfather, or Genevieve? Oh wait, you don't mean Genevieve. She was only twelve, and my father…well, Keiko hadn't met him yet." Tamaki said to herself. "Ah, that's right! My Granddaddy is the leading researcher in biochemistry! I'm such a _spaz_ at times,"

"We get the message," Celeste said softly. "We're the children of cyborgs. Thank you for the truth. Fifteen years was a wait, but we have it. I'll be outside after I get out of these clothes. I don't want to parade about in the clothes I killed a person with."

With that, Celeste rose from the couch. She walked out of the living room and closed the door with a small _click_. As soon as she did, sobs tore through the air.

It was easy to tell that Florence was hiding her own depression by her trembling. She rose quickly and ran from the room, crying her eyes out.

(Get ready for a long couple of days ahead. None of them are going to be willing to talk to you after that burst.) Zero said sadly, flopping over onto her Uncle Britain. (It's not going to be very fun, but it'll get better. Leave them be,)

-&-&-&-

"She's starting to worry me," Florence said. She looked out from the window up onto the cliff where they had finished 0023 and 0022, where Celeste now sat.

"She's probably feeling betrayed," Sophia replied, looking out. "I can understand that myself right now. Shall we join her, or at least bring her an umbrella?"

The rain had continued falling at a steady pace through the night, which none of the girls had slept through. Julia had been forced to stay either lying or sitting constantly, for if she were to stand, she could kiss her right leg good bye. Liana didn't even have the spirit to cook or yell at her father.

So Florence and Sophia grabbed three umbrellas, their raincoats, and stepped out into the steady downpour. It took them seven minutes to reach the cliff where Celeste sat, brown hair clinging to her shoulders as well as her clothes. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, and probably from crying. After all, Celeste had been sitting there for close to two hours, knees curled up to her chest.

"Hey," Florence said, covering Celeste with an umbrella. Celeste looked up and motioned for them to sit with her. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Celeste mumbled, shaking out her long sleeved white shirt. "I don't like this feeling!" A fresh round of sobs broke out as she shook from the cold. "I can't help but feel so awful for them, but they kept this from me for thirteen years! And all my uncles…even Uncle Jet, and the evidence was right there in front of me!"

The three sat under the umbrellas, the older two comforting the lost younger one. They shared the same feelings of betrayal, depression, triumph and happiness, which made them all very confused. To be so happy about destroying 0022 and 0023, and yet so sad because they knew the very reason they were pursued.

"Sophia?" Celeste asked shyly.

"Yeah?" Sophia asked back. "What's wrong?"

"I was thinking about ((way back in chapter two when you gave that speech)) when you were telling Julia about how we all had to work together. At that time, we were happy now knowing. Then why are we so sad now?" Celeste asked.

"I don't know," Sophia honestly replied.

"The stars…I remember reading something in the stars about this! It was the correspondence between two of the constellations and the planets, something was wrong! That was the night of the phone call that changed our lives." Celeste said blankly.

"I'll say that," Florence answered. "I wonder if that could have been prevented if we knew?"

"It was our destiny," Celeste cried. "We had to follow it, no matter what. Does it mean that this is owari?"

"Owari?" Sophia and Florence asked together.

"It means the end," Celeste explained. "Or I wonder if there's more to come."

"Let's hope for the latter," Florence said bitterly. "I've had enough fighting. I want peace, not this war."

Celeste faced Florence. "I'm so tired…but I can't sleep…the dreams I'd have would wake me up…"

"Well, being out here isn't going to help anything." Florence said, rising. "Let's get inside and _then_ think about sleeping."

"But…I _killed_ someone…" Celeste said, voice shaking. "You can't deny it…it's there forever…my fault for everything…"

"Celeste, you did us all a favor. Now come on, two hours up here crying isn't going to bring him back." Sophia answered. Celeste had another round of tears as soon as the words had left Sophia's mouth. Thunder boomed in the distance.

"Let's go inside, and get you dry again." Florence said. Celeste stood up stubbornly, crying with the effort in her numb muscles.

"Onee-chan…" Celeste murmured lazily.

"You're calling me your older sister?" Sophia asked serenely.

"Yeah," Celeste said. "But how you know Japanese?"

"Some girl from school," Sophia replied. "But why call us your older sisters?"

"You're older, you have the same problems that I have, and…" Celeste's voice trailed away. "You're the closest I've felt to having…y'know…"

They had reached the door. Elyon looked down from a balcony and Tamaki let them back inside. The atmosphere inside was laden with grief and passion, and was thick from steam issuing from the kitchen.

"GET OUT!" Liana screamed from the kitchen, holding a smoldering frying pan and swinging it dangerously close to her father's head. ((that rhymed…oh dear, look at Mika in the Hat!))

Liana stood in the doorway, eyes blazing with pain and rage. The frying pan had burnt a hole in her shirt, but it was of no matter. She turned and left through the door she'd come, sighing Mandarin curses as she went.

"How hard is the rain coming down?" Julia demanded from her seat on the couch. "Oh, I'm going to be so mad if it's really getting good out there,"

"Julia, could I asked you something?" Celeste asked, sitting down next to her.

"Anything at all, except for a few off-limit areas," Julia said with a wink.

"Why weren't you supposed to live past six?" Celeste asked. Julia looked puzzled for a moment, then the question registered.

"Ah, that. I have a weak immune system, and at first, they thought I wouldn't see a day past my second birthday. Then once I did, they had to eat their words. Oh jeez, my mom rattled them out so badly. Soon after, I had to get my glasses, and then I had a bad encounter with pneumonia on my fifth birthday. So those idiots came up with the age of six that I'd die. Oh yes, I look very dead right now. Then I got addicted to the rain. Rain is fun, even if it makes things worse. Oh hell, I don't even care about it any more. But it's fun to have it sometimes, worthwhile. Sometimes I can get out of something stupid by having a cold that would otherwise be harmless. So ends my tale." Julia answered.

"What's your birthday?" Celeste asked next.

"Why?" Julia asked.

"Just tell me." Celeste answered.

"March thirteenth, I'm an Aires, if you're gonna ask." Julia said.

Celeste gave something like a shadow of a grin. "I'm a Leo, birthday's August twenty-first."

"You're going to ask anyway. Born September sixth, so that makes me a Virgo." Florence said blandly.

"February fourth, Aquarius." Sophia said.

"That's odd…if I knew the others, I'd say that we aren't supposed to be getting along very well. Leo, Libra, Scorpio and Virgo get along best, but sometimes others clash with them. It's interesting how the zodiac is occasionally incorrect…I'm supposed to be such an optimist…" Celeste wailed. The aura she gave away was that of a young sparrow with an arrow through its wing: damaged, flightless, and a very bruised ego. Julia felt even worse around the other girl.

"Celeste, you're tired. That's the problem," Julia said. Celeste gave a little hiccup. "Don't worry, we'll be here to wake ya up if anything goes mad. You wouldn't want to miss out, would you?"

Celeste didn't wait to dry herself before lying down on the squashy couch pillows. As soon as her head made contact with the fabric, she was sound asleep.

"I feel bad for her," Julia said eventually.

"Why? She's the one who felt responsible for what happened, all of it." Florence replied.

"…" Julia said nothing.

-&-&-&-

Jet walked into the living room. The four girls had all fallen asleep; Julia had drool dripping from the corner of her mouth. Celeste whined and cried out in her fitful rest, and she was very wet.

Madison came in to stand next to her husband. "They're peaceful…enough,"

Florence was sitting on the ground; head leaned back on another couch, muttering something. Sophia was asleep like Celeste on another couch, stretched out and was sleeping, so it seemed, the calmest of all.

"These are the others?" Madison asked, brushing damp hair from Celeste's face.

"Some of them. The others are somewhere, I don't know where. Relax, Madison. You're worried about Julia, right?" Jet asked his wife.

"That's right," Madison sighed. "It feels like it's all on my…"

"It's fine," Jet interjected. ((oh my God, that sounded so stupid. Jet, interject. -.-)) "Julia has your temper, darling, but you've survived with it. Julia will be fine. She'd probably kill the grim reaper."

Madison laughed and wiped the drool from her daughter's mouth. "She was wearing her glasses, right?"

-&-&-&-

Celeste sat bolt upright, dripping with cold sweat and breathing heavily.

Pale moonlight filtered in from the picture window, then was whisked away by the clouds and rain.

_It wasn't true. It was just a dream. _Celeste thought, panicked. _All that about me killing them was just a nightmare…_

She noticed the drool hanging from Julia's mouth and began to bawl. Julia woke up to the crying Celeste, of who seemed utterly terrified.

"Celeste! What happened? Are you okay?" Julia demanded. Celeste cried even harder into her friend's shoulder.

"Just a dream…" Celeste sobbed. Her face was pale and she shook from her fears. "I'm so sorry I woke you up…you needed to sleep…"

"Don't worry about it." Julia said, brushing the comment away. "You need to go get something to calm you down with. I'll come with you, better than staying here."

"But…!" Celeste exclaimed.

"But nothing," Julia snapped, standing. "Come on, let's go."

Celeste allowed Julia to lean on her as they walked to the kitchen. It wasn't a very far walk, but it took a lot from both girls.

"Wonder who's this is?" Julia asked herself as she sat down on the floor. "Mocha Cappuccino mix! I'm going to have to try this stuff later."

"I found tea," Celeste remarked. Julia tried to stand, but it was useless. Celeste extended a hand to help Julia stand, and so Julia accepted.

"How fast can you make it?" Julia asked.

"I have to boil water…" Celeste mumbled.

"Microwave!" Julia exclaimed, filling a mug to about an inch from the top. Celeste watched as she put it in the microwave and pressed a few buttons. "There. It'll be ready in no time. Are you sure you're alright, though, Celeste?"

"What are you two doing up?" Ivan asked as he walked in on the two.

"I had a nightmare…" Celeste whispered.

"You don't look very good…would you like to come down with me to sleep with your parents?" Ivan asked.

"No, I'll be alright." Celeste replied with the closest thing to a smile yet. "Thanks for the offer though, Ivan. I appreciate it. Where are the others? Are they safe?" She demanded, remembering her feverish nightmare.

"The others are asleep," He answered her. "But why are you asking?"

"She had a nightmare, that's why," Julia said nonchalantly from the microwave.

The blood…the tears… 

"_Celeste! Why are you…"_

"_You must die, traitor!"_

Celeste gripped the counter to steady herself. Not again…those images…

"Help me!" 

"_Worthless scum, how dare you speak my name?"_

_The shiny blade glinted in the rays of moonlight, then there was screaming in the darkness. There was a murderous laugh and blood on her hand; the blade was wet with warm blood._

"You don't have to do this!" 

"_Lies!"_

_The blade shone red, then plunged into the speaker's body. _

"CELESTE!" Ivan shouted. Celeste's eyes shone wet with tears as she clung for her life to Ivan, scared beyond all reason. "Are you _positive _you're fine?"

"I need to see the others," Celeste said. "Please."

Julie handed her the mug, full to the brim with steaming tea. Celeste accepted it and drank slowly, letting the hot liquid calm her tense body.

"Can Julia come with us?" Celeste asked.

"Sure," Ivan replied.

They were off down the dark halls, Julia clinging to Ivan for support. Celeste shook and sipped the tea, trying to rid herself of the nightmare. It had felt so _real_.

They reached a large room where all the others were camped out. Celeste sighed in relief and nearly spilled her tea on Ivan. She was crying again.

"They're fine, Celeste!" Julia exclaimed. "Now let's go back upstairs and go back to sleep. You need it the worst."

Julia's hair was flying in the wind. Celeste laughed at it and struck her in the back and smiled when the sickening image of blood being coughed up was shown.

"I'm not going to sleep if this is what's going to happen," Celeste mumbled. "It was horrible, Julia. You have no idea."

"Then tell us about it on the way back." Julia ordered.

"If you must know," Celeste said as they turned to go back. "I was so mad with you all because I thought you killed my daddy. Then I started killing all of you so you could feel my pain, and the worst part is, _I watched myself do it all. I heard myself **laugh**_."

"After you've gotten some sleep, I'll ask your grandfather to see if anything's wrong." Ivan said as they reached the living room again. "But Julia's right. You need sleep. Take a break. Go, lie down. I'll stay here with you and wake you if you begin to scream."

As Celeste lay back down, Ivan left the room. Julia sat down near Celeste's feet and curled up to sleep.

(What was that about?) Zero asked lazily.

(She was terrified because of a nightmare she had.) Ivan replied, returning to the room to see the others.

(You have my attention,) She said. (Did she tell you about it?)

(She said she dreamt someone had killed her father then she went and killed everyone else, including us. First-person perspective,) Ivan told her.

(Then hurry down here, because we need to talk. All of us.) Zero said grimly. Ivan ventured into the room where Zero waited, ondangoes messy from sleep.

"0031 and 0010 are coming," Zero said. She turned to Joe. "Mister Joe, has Celeste had any premonition dreams ever?"

"No," Joe answered her.

"Then it was just a nightmare," Zero muttered. "That's good to know, or else I'd be pretty freaked. Well, in any case, get ready for those two. Neither are very sweet people, and they're probably headed here for me. Or you, take your pick."

-&-&-&-

"TRUST ME!" Julia bellowed.

Celeste was out crying again. Julia was inside, debating with her grandfather, Ivan and Zero over what Celeste had that gave her that nightmare. Celeste had woken up that morning only to go back out onto the cliff.

"In any case, 0010 should be here any minute now," Zero said lightly.

"Must you gloat in front of me?" Julia whined. "I can't fight! I WANNA KICK CAN!"

"Help me get Celeste back in here, then I might think about doing something more," Zero said, seizing an umbrella. Julia looked at her.

"Yes, I get to go out in the rain!" Julia cheered. Zero came over to help Julia stand, then they walked out.

Instead of the brief seven minutes it had taken Florence and Sophia, it took Julia and Zero twice that time. Celeste was homesteading the spot still in the drizzle, crying hard as ever.

"Celeste! Let's go back in! 0031 and 0010 are coming soon!" Julia yelled. Celeste turned around. She ran to them and cried again into Julia's shoulder. "Come on, you. You are going to get sleep and like it."

"Going somewhere?" A menacing female voice asked. "Ah, project 0021. So we meet again."

"You always had the worst timing, 0031." Zero snapped.

"Thank you!" Another voice called. It, too, was a female's. "Zero, I've missed you! Ever since the others were banished, it hasn't been the same. So we came to visit you and your…_friends._"

"And 0010." Zero grumbled. "Celeste and Julia, _go back inside._ These two are royal pains, so I suggest you tell Mister Joe. Ivan could stand knowing, too."

"Well then, I'll settle it," Celeste said, taking a blaster out from under her shirt. "BLASTER MODE!"

Julia's glasses were steamed up from the heat she was expelling out of anger.

-&-&-&-

"FINISHED!" Liana sang as she pulled a triple-layer cheesecake from the oven. She twirled her spatula and admired the coating. "Aw…I want someone to enjoy it…"

She placed it on the cutting board, then looking in the refrigerator. Shelves were piled high with numerous Chinese dishes, cakes, pies, and all sorts of sweets from Liana's distress. Cooking helped her to feel better.

Someone screamed outside. Liana rushed from the kitchen into the living room, and looked out the picture window.

"Zero was right! 0010 and 0031 are here!" She screeched, bounding over the couch and out the door into the rain.

"This much be the last battalion of them, because otherwise we're going to fall apart at the seams!" Liana heard Julia yell.

And Julia was absolutely correct.

"Do you guys need help?" Liana demanded, rushing up.

"Oh look, another one for shocking!" One of the cyborgs said. This cyborg had blue hair and twinkling purple eyes, and wore a knitted beige sweater, cuffed dark blue jeans and black Converse. "Hello then. I'm 0010. Ready for the shock of your life?"

And with that, 0010 sent a series of lightning bolts at Celeste, who took one and collapsed to the ground in a helpless pile.

"You know she can't handle that!" Zero screamed. (IVAN! JOE! JET! GET UP HERE!)

(But why?) Joe asked. Zero could tell he was moving.

(0010 and 0031 are here already! They're the last two cyborgs ever created, so they're gonna fight until they're dead! Midori!) Zero called.

(Right here!) Midori chirped.

(You can fight, correct?)

(Oh yes. I'm not project 0014 for nothing, am I?)

-&-&-&-&-

OOOOOOOHHHH YEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!

I got my hair cut! It's so short and light now! There was all this hair on the ground…it took them a few minutes to get like, this mountain of hair vacuumed up! Whee! Now I have shorter braids!

The end is coming soon. Boo! I don't want it to end TT.TT! But next chapter will have some stuff I stole from the episode "After the Battle"! Yay! Then it's gonna be pretty much tying up loose ends and the epilogue is a secret!

What's this? Midori is 0014? And 0010 is like her prototypes in the Cyborg Project? How is it possible? Start e-mailing Mika at the address on her bio and demand she tell you! **ONE MORE POSITION OPEN! I NEED AN OC FROM YOU! E-MAIL IT TO ME!**


	12. The Magnificent Seven

Hello again! If I get past this chapter, it will mean the longest story I've ever posted on I'm gonna be so proud if I make it! And then I'll be running three more accounts on three other fanfiction/original work sites! My bio page has a new section as you have probably all seen, Mika and Sadie's Newsboard. All updates, story status, authoress news, birthdays, and such will be posted there for your enjoyment! Hooray!

After this story is over, I will host a question and answer session! You can submit up to five questions, and I can tell if you're the same person. Any question will be taken! Like Sadie was asking me on the phone why I did so much 002-bashing, and then I asked if she would call Joe. She didn't cause we don't have his number! But still, we decided to host your questions because my betas are more observant than I am. Well, no. I knew all the bashing and pairings going on, and if you're watching close enough, you can see them too! Whee!

Because the Kazumis use nicknames a lot, here they are! – Genevieve (Gene), Hideki (Kei-kun), Haruna (Haru), Haruka (Ruka), Elyon (Elle), Tamaki (Tama ((-chan))), Kiyoshi (Yoshi), Midori (Mi-chan), Hana (Na-chan), Michiko (Michi)

Do any of you know where to buy the 13-inch action figures of Cyborg 009? I'm serious. I want them all! (But I don't own Cyborg 009) I don't own the song 'The Magnificent Seven', the composer Bernstein does. CLASSICAL MUSIC JUNKIE RIGHT HERE!

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Twelve: The Magnificent Seven

-&-&-&-&-

"You're going to fight them again?" Genevieve asked one of her youngest sisters. "Is that what you really want to do, Mi-chan? You've…"

"Gene, I must. I'm not going to kid around right now with you. When they gave those to me…I joined the rebellion, eleven years ago. It seems crazy, I know, why didn't they take you? Oh well. Later!" Midori called as she raced out the door.

"Wishing for her death to come again?" Haruna asked from the couch. "I wonder if they made a mistake by taking her."

-&-&-&-

"I CAN'T USE SYNTHESIS!" Zero bellowed at Jet. "I WOULD HAVE USED IT BY NOW, WOULDN'T I?"

Celeste lay motionless on the ground, face down. Zero had taken to protecting the defenseless girl from 0010's attacks.

Someone's cell phone started to ring. 0010 pulled it from one of her pockets and swore in Japanese at whoever it was.

"Sorry to cut this short, but we have to meet with some executives," 0010 said. "Come, 0031. We'll be back soon enough, don't doubt it."

With that, the two left. Zero dropped down to pick up Celeste, who was considerably wet and seemingly gasping for air.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you. It's just…I was so mad. 0010 can't control her anger and likes to funnel it into me. I can't synthesize with either of them because they have more advanced technology. Just ask Midori, she's part of this mess." Zero said.

"I missed the whole thing?" Midori asked. "Oh, and about that. I'm 0014. When I was born, my father took me with him. He turned me over to Black Ghost, who instantly picked up on cyborgs again. Thus is how I became 0014. I came here when I was four. And to this day, I don't know any idiot who makes a cyborg that gets hungry."

"At any rate," Florence said. "Let's get back indoors. It won't be a very good idea to stay out here much longer."

-&-&-&-

Florence was sitting in an adjoined living room where there was a piano, but she couldn't convince her fingers to move across the keys. Her fingers were poised over the keys, ready to move, but every time she tried to play, she would just start to cry. Julia sat listening to her headphones in the corner.

"Can I try playing?" Julia asked.

"Do you play an instrument?" Florence asked, wiping her tears from the keys.

"Believe it or not, I play violin. But…right now…it feels like a slum. Nothing seems to be right. I don't want to open up to my…" Julia started.

"I don't want to reconnect with my parents after this," Florence said for her. "Would you like to come with me? I'm going to see if Liana has anything to eat."

Julia bobbed her head and turned off her music. Florence stood and helped Julia up, and then they ventured off to the kitchen.

Liana stood decorating her cheesecake from earlier. When Florence and Julia entered, she turned around and beamed at them.

"Well, if you want anything to eat, there's a ton," Liana said to their unspoken question. "I made way too much,"

Florence looked in the refrigerator. "You weren't kidding, Liana. Did you have any help?"

"Heck no! I made it all because I'd start crying otherwise. It keeps me occupied. And it means my dad can't come in and bug me. Help yourself, do, do!" Liana urged.

"It looks like bakery meets Chinese restaurant in there!" Julia exclaimed. Liana smiled at her.

"Maybe you can take some down to Grandpa and Celeste!" Liana said, and squirted herself on the face with white icing from excitement.

Florence's face darkened. "Mmm-mmm. Grandpa, Aunt Francoise and Uncle Joe have been down in the Dolphin with her for hours now, trying to wake her. Zero's probably with them; I haven't seen her lately."

Liana's face dropped. Julia's eyes welled with tears, the first time that Florence had seen her do such.

"It's my fault!" Julia cried. "If only…"

Florence hugged Julia. "Julia. It's not your fault. You're in bad shape as is, and if you'd been shocked, you'd probably be dead. You think you went through grief? We all did. It's fine, just cry."

And as Julia cried, a lone tear fell from Florence's eye. Julia looked up and wiped it away. Her own tear-stained cheeks raised in a soft smile, as Florence understood what was going on. They were sisters, maybe not by DNA, but they were certainly sisters. All of them were: Celeste, Julia, Florence, Sophia, Liana, Angelina, and Rene were all sisters, and Ivan was their one brother. The two watched it bloom in the other's eyes, smiling ever so slightly as it appeared there.

-&-&-&-

Issac shook his head as he looked at a monitor. Zero was sadly listening to his thoughts, trying her hardest not to start bawling. It was hard to, especially after listening to the various girls' thoughts. She sat on top of the Dolphin, which was housed in a cove under the Kazumi mansion.

Celeste was lying down in the Dolphin's infirmary, watched by both her parents. Her fevered sleep was, at the very least, free of dreams of any sort. Odd, that the sleep she needed so desperately was the only thing that held her from being well. As she had been sitting in the rain, she had come down with a cold. But when she was shocked, her body took that ahead and tried to repair the damage to her nervous system first.

"We're not going to get anywhere until her fever breaks, and that won't be for a while," Issac said, breaking the shattering silence. Angelina poked her head in.

"I've been here the whole time, Grandpa. Is there anything at all I could do to help?" Angelina asked.

He shook his head no. Angelina sighed, then vanished, probably to return to her computer.

"I'll return and tell the other girls, they have a right to know," Issac said. "Will you remain here?"

"Of course we will," Joe replied. Issac turned and left, and the door shut behind him.

"This reminds me of you, Joe. I remember when we fought 0010," Francoise said gently as she wipe sweat away from Celeste's face.

-&-&-&-

"I'm just hacking Black Ghost's last resort," Midori said to Sophia. "Angelina is back at your ship thingy, helping me. They set up so many firewalls! Ready over there?" ((try and imagine her like Ed from Cowboy Bebop, it's funny))

A small window with Angelina in it popped up. Angelina had the data scanner on, but she was smiling mischievously. "I'm set over here, Midori. How fast are you?"

"Rapid fire sound appealing?" Midori asked, clicking open new windows. Sophia was impressed.

"You take five walls and I'll take five!" Angelina responded, face set to seriousness. The two girls made machines look slow as encrypted data flew across the screen of Midori's laptop, then only to be changed into a new stream of codes. Sophia watched Angelina's face change in the glow of her screen.

After about twenty minutes of watching the two work, Sophia meandered off to do something else. Zero wasn't around, Liana was turning woes into sweets, and Julia was….

Well, let's see what Julia was doing.

Florence, Julia, and Rene were having a game of War. Sophia watched them, but it was almost as boring as watching Midori hack.

"Wanna play?" Julia piped up. "Come on, it's fuuuuuun!"

"Are you sure you should be even moving around?" Sophia asked, hauling the ottoman over so she could sit with them.

"Why?" Julia asked. "What happened to me aside from my right leg?"

"I'd rather not be the one to tell you," Sophia replied.

"TELL ME!" Julia demanded.

"Do you remember when you fell?" Sophia asked softly. Julia turned her head, confused.

"When was that?" Julia asked.

"When you fell," Florence continued, "Grandpa thought you weren't going to live. He said that even if you did…you probably wouldn't be able to see. That may have been wrong, but you…"

Julia ran one of her bruised hands over the left side of her face. She squeaked in pain as she reached her eyebrow, and followed it down to her neck.

"What happened to me?" Julia asked, frightened. Her hands ran over her arms, and she cried out in pain. "H-h-ow did t-t-his happen? When? Who?"

"We were fighting Black Ghost – you remember that much?" Rene asked. Julia nodded. "It was during that when you decided you had enough, and tried to throw Black Ghost away like the rubbish. After you did, sadly, he threw you down through the ground, and I suppose you passed out during that period."

"When we came here, Julia, please understand this, they thought you were dead. And when you were with us again, we heard the truth. You remember, Celeste went out and cried. Well, she went out and cried because she thought this whole thing was her fault. She blamed herself for what happened to you. _That's_ the full story, Julia." Florence explained.

"That explains that dream…" Julia said quietly.

"Dream?" Florence asked.

"Last night she had dream she killed all of us," Julia replied. "Now I can see why. She was stressed out. I feel so bad! This stinks!"

And the four girls sat there, talking like they'd known each other for forever and a day. It was a change, in many ways for them. For one thing, they all could look at the other and wonder who it was, and yet feel so comforted by the fact that they knew them. What was it that made them so…close, so suddenly?

-&-&-&-

Five hours later, at six o'clock at night, Liana came flying out of the kitchen. Her arms were laden with lavishly decorated sweets: cakes with intricate frosting flowers, pies suitable for the cover of a cooking magazine, perfectly shaped eclairs with delicate decorations, pudding that appeared like it did on those Jell-O boxes, and splendid chocolates that could send even Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker packing.

"Ummmm…did you make all this?" Tamaki asked as Liana whirled into the living room.

"Yes, of course I did! What do you think I did, drove to the bakery and bought it for fun?" Liana responded, snappish but utterly pleased. Tamaki pulled out her sketch pad and began to draw the mountain of baked goods.

"Okay, who wants to come with me to buy more?" Elyon asked, swinging a pair of keys around. "We're going to need more flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, confectioner's sugar, and…liquid cement? Oh wait, Mi-chan put that as a prank. So, anyone coming with me?"

"Mi-chan is coming!" Midori called. "Can I take my laptop, Elle?"

"If you must. Come on, let's get out to the car!" Elyon shouted in reply. Midori came out of the adjoined living room, laptop in one arm and typing with the other hand. Elyon took out an umbrella and dashed out into the rain, followed by Midori.

"You can eat it, I didn't use cement," Liana said. "Here, I'll go get some plates and forks!"

Hana grinned peevishly. Tamaki looked around as Liana left, then swooped down and grabbed three of the chocolates. Florence eyed it, then dipped her finger into one of the two bowls of pudding.

Putting it simply, they were experiencing heaven via Liana's cooking.

In only an hour, all present in the living room had devoured the surplus and their stomachs were now pleasantly stuffed.

"Shouldn't Elyon and Midori be back by now?" Rene asked worriedly.

"You have a point," Tamaki said. "Okay, who wants to use the other car to hunt them down? No, I can't drive legally, but I know how. Elyon taught me last week!"

"Don't do it!" Angelina shouted. "I just saw what happened! Midori…they…"

"Calm down, Angelina." Florence said, worry controlling her German voice. "Now, what happened to Elyon and Midori?"

"They've been KIDNAPPED! Midori tried to break free with her accelerator…but they've got all the hacked information!" Angelina exploded. Tamaki's face turned from surprise to shock.

"All of you. Get your blasters. I'll take mine. Tell your parents we're leaving to rescue them, and if they want to drive, they're welcome to. We have seven more cars. Angelina, Liana, you two tell my brothers and sisters to stay here and go into phase three. This time they've gone to far." Tamaki commanded. The girls ran to their tasks, most unwillingly.

So in ten minutes, a crowd had gathered in the underground driveway. Tamaki handed out keys to Jet, Madison, Joe…

"Uncle Joe, why are you coming? Shouldn't you stay here with Celeste?" Florence asked.

He said nothing in return. He accepted the keys from Tamaki.

So Tamaki gave the remaining keys to Albert, GB and Amanda. Genevieve stood watching, in her sweater and all. Haruna and Haruka had declared themselves too young to command, so they told Genevieve and Hideki to control lockdown. They were riding with Tamaki to make sure she didn't kill herself.

"Tamaki! Hang on!" Hana cried, running down a short set of steps and launching herself onto Tamaki. "Take me, I can track her. Her signal is still pretty strong, so let me come! That way you can communicate with the other cyborgs from car to car!"

"What do you mean, Na-chan?" Genevieve demanded, grasping her second youngest sibling. "Hana Hoshi Kazumi, what the _hell_ do you mean?" ((Hana's name translates literally into "Flower of the Stars"))

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I MEAN!" Hana screamed. "I'M 0017! DIDN'T YOU EVER WONDER WHY I DIDN'T COME HERE UNTIL I WAS THREE?"

"Go then. If you run into 0010 or 0031, be sure to call back here. Take my cell, I don't need it." Genevieve said quietly and deadly serious, handing Hana her cell phone. "May the Gods be with you. Please return safely, all of you."

They got into the cars as Genevieve waved to them, worry clenching her heart. As Tamaki sped out in the lead, she turned and walked back inside. _I'd better tell everyone about Hana. I can't imagine why she hid it…_

"They said to slow down, Tama. And I can't say I don't blame them!" Hana said. Tamaki was driving well over the speed limit, causing her sisters to hang onto whatever they could for support. "I need to tell Elyon that you're crazy!"

Out of nowhere at all, Zero landed in their car. "Oh, hello 0017. Nice to see that all's normal, ne?"

"By what is normal?" Hana asked. "Yes, in training, this would have been level point five. But okay, two of my sisters are missing. One is a crazy cyborg who screws with html coding and the other is a good until mad girl with Gene's favorite car. I don't care about the car!"

"HEADS UP!" Tamaki shouted.

"What?" Haruka demanded, rolling down her window. "Tama, what's so urgent? Did we finally catch a hanyou?"

"Keep dreaming, we caught Mi-chan's laptop, Ruka!" Tamaki said. ((I, for some bizarre reason, have the urge to call Haruka Almond Roka…xD;; ))

Above the motorcade, hanging from a tree limb, was Midori's laptop. It was throwing off sparks from disconnected cords, threatening anyone stupid enough to touch it with a shock. Hana got ready to jump out and grab it.

"Wait, let me put the roof down." Tamaki said, then pressed a button. In seconds, the car had turned into one sporty little convertible. Hana stood up and jumped to reach the branch, then grabbed her sister's laptop. After she had done that in record time, she jumped back down into the moving vehicle, coming quite close to dislodging Haruna's head.

"They've got her laptop!" Florence called out her window, signaling Angelina in the car behind them.

It was bizarre ((word of the week! SORA, STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND YOU WON'T DIE! :pulls out her tranquilizer gun and gets her sister away: )) how a group of seven cars wasn't noticed, but then again, it was was pretty desolate. Hana looked at the abandoned power plant as they drove by it for any sign of Elle and Mi-chan.

When Hana didn't see them, she picked up one of the sparking wires. It wrapped itself around her finger and Hana's green eyes swirled until they were nothing but vortexes of green. Tiny numbers and letters were mirrored in her eyes as if she and the computer had become one entity. Absentmindedly, she pressed keys.

The wire fell slowly and unwrapped from Hana's finger. "I've found why 0010 and 0031 are so hard to beat."

-&-&-&-

Midori tried to communicate with Hana, but it was impossible to try. Hana had closed her mind off from anyone or anything.

"Would you like to try communicating again, 0014?" 0031 asked.

0031 looked to be about Elyon's age. 0031 had silvery hair and garnet eyes, and wore a baby blue t-shirt, denim miniskirt, and silver spray-painted elevated sneakers. On her wrists were at least a dozen silver bracelets, on her arm was a royal blue armband, and around her legs were several silver bangles. She laughed murderously.

"If you wish to have your precious sister returned safely, then stop your desperate attempts at communication!" 0031 called, flying up over the sea. Elyon was hanging in her arms, unconscious, bleeding, and ready to fall out of 0031's arms into the sea. Midori bit her upper lip and let out a squeak of discomfort.

"Go ahead, we dare you." 0010 smirked, then ignited a set of rockets on her feet and flew up to meet 0031. Midori squeezed her eyes shut and tried to communicate with Hana again.

(Hana! Na-chaaaaaaaaan! Come on!) Midori called desperately.

(What? What do you need? Are you alive? Is Elle all right?) Hana demanded.

(No to all above questions if you don't **HURRY!**) Midori answered, sending Hana an image of her surroundings. It was a pier.

(We're already coming, so just wear 'em out for us,) Hana said. Midori broke the connection.

-&-&-&-

"SHOVE OVER, TAMA!" Haruka ((or Almond Roka, whichever you prefer)) screamed, seizing the steering wheel. Tamaki wasn't in the position to change so suddenly with her sister. As it ended out, Haruka was sitting on her lap, flooring the car for all it could put out. Her ponytail flew out wildly in the wind, for the rain was reduced to a drizzle.

"You two are **_BOTH_** insane!" Hana squeaked as they drove. Zero, Hana and Haruna were clinging to each other in the back seat for dear life, and I certainly wouldn't blame them.

And then it struck the squabbling car of siblings and Zero where they were. They were at a large pier with hundreds of small tables; most likely is also served as a fish market. It was a quaint setting: the orangish glow of streetlamps flickering to life, the navy blue water splashing gently, the screeching cars…

Tamaki reached her leg down to slam the breaks while Haruka invested in simply turning the car off. For far above them were 0010, 0031, Midori and Elyon, hovering above the sea.

Zero had to put up a forcefield to keep the other cars from being bumper cars.

Hana took the cell phone out of her pocket, but didn't need to dial a number in. It was ringing, holy cow. She pressed "TALK".

"HANA HOSHI KAZUMI, TELL ME YOU'VE FOUND THEM!" Everyone heard Michiko's tiny voice magnified by about ten. "Gene is having a hissy-fit! Yoshi just….um, well, have you found them?"

Genevieve came on, trying to sound relaxed and calm. "Hana, do you see any out-of-place objects near by?"

Hana looked up, down, and all around. "Nope. Unless you're count—"

They heard Genevieve give a loud shout of "THEY HAVEN'T SPOTTED HER YET!", and then her voice went back to normal. "When you do, buzz back here and let us know. For some reason, their ship went missing a while ago with Mister Gilmore on it. Well then, ja mata ne!"

For a second, Julia and Liana looked at one another like 'Celeste woke up and decided to chase after us', then smiled wickedly. Liana took four unfrosted cupcakes from her pocket.

"Why did you bring cupcakes?" Haruna asked.

"Get 0010 or 0031 down here and I'll show you!" Liana called back, pulling out her blaster and aiming for 0031.

"Please, don't do that!" Midori shouted, zooming down as she saw five blaster rays. "She has Elyon up there, ready to drop!"

"Time to give 0010 a taste of her own medicine, then?" Florence asked, voice lined with venom. She set her blaster to the needle setting and fired away at 0010.

"Midori, could you fly me up there, by any chance?" Liana asked, her voice possessed.

"Sure, but why, Mi-chan wants to know," Midori responded, lifting Liana from the ground with a small _whoosh_.

"Sweet revenge!" Liana shouted into the damp twilight, hurtling one of the cupcakes and hitting 0010 square in the noggin. "Wanna try your aim?"

0010 was rubbing the back of her head where the cupcake had struck. "What the heck did you put in those things?" Julia shouted from down below.

"LATER!" Liana shouted back. "Midori, I'm going to aim at 0031. Once I hit her though, you _have _to get Elyon. Okies?" She then whispered.

"But…what am I going to do? Oh wait, Mi-chan knows. Na-chan will catch you, yes she will." Midori answered, smiling at the plan.

In response, Hana flew up to about half their height. "This had better work!"

Liana took aim with her cupcake from hell at 0031's head. It hit her perfectly on the left ear. Midori let her fall, and then briefly accelerated to get Elyon as 0031 let go to nurse her ear. Hana caught Liana, then descended again and let Liana jump about three feet to the ground.

"NOW will you tell us what you put in those?" Chang asked her. She smiled.

"I said it was sweet revenge," Liana responded. His eyes popped.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP MAKING DISHES WITH CEMENT! YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO BE AN ACCOMPLISHED COOK LIKE I AM IF YOU KEEP THAT UP!" Chang exploded. Julia and Jet choked down laughter.

"IT WAS EFFECTIVE, WASN'T IT?" Liana roared back. "I DON'T SEE **YOU** TRYING TO HELP DESTROY THE ((CENSORED!)), YOU SHORT-ORDER COOK!" She jabbed her finger into his nose.

"So as you can observe, Mi-chan wasn't the one who put liquid cement on Elle's shopping list. I should start baking those in case Gene ever gets any ideas, though…" Midori said thoughtfully as she swooped back down with Elyon. There was a cut on Elyon's right temple that was bleeding something fierce. Zero tried to heal it.

"YAI!" She bellowed, jumping away from Elyon. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER?"

"Ah, Project Zero. You brought your friends back for another…_shocking_ encounter," 0010 hissed. ((more bad puns, courtesy of Mika in the Hat))

Julia fired her blaster on the blaster setting. "YEAH, WELL GOOD LUCK GETTING RID OF US THIS TIME!"

And then, something totally randomly brilliant happened to come in out of the murky sky.

-&-&-&-

"Go fish, Yoshi!" Michiko squeaked. Her onii-chan drew a card from a pile.

"Haven't they called _yet_, Gene?" Hideki asked. "This is the fourth game of Go Fish we've played."

Genevieve was camped out next to the phone, waiting for Hana to call. "Not yet. I wish they would, Kei-kun. There's six of them there. I'll be damned if she calls in the next five seconds."

"Gene, you cursed!" Michiko wailed. The phone gave a loud ring. Genevieve blundered as she picked it up.

"Hana! _Are all of you alive? Are you hurt? What about Midori? Elyon? **WHAT'S GOING ON?**_" Genevieve yelled into the receiver.

"It's not Hana, onee-kun. It's Mi-chan. Now Mi-chan is wondering – how fast can Gene get here?" Midori replied.

"Why, Midori?" Genevieve demanded.

"Well, says Mi-chan, this big weird flying thing showed up all of a sudden. Mi-chan was going to tell you to just come here and forget the speed limit, but…" Midori said.

"We're coming, then." Genevieve snapped, then hung up. "Get your coats and meet me in the garage in five."

-&-&-&-

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Julia roared in delight.

For there above them, firing missiles, no less, was the Dolphin. But who was piloting it? It wouldn't be on autopilot right now, since none of them were around to set it.

One word clicked into the girl's heads: _Celeste_.

And sure enough, the warcraft landed. A tiny figure stood up on the top, hair flying in the wind. Midori's green eyes blinked in complete unison with Haruna's eyes. Julia and Florence looked like they were having a contest on who could make a more surprised face. Sophia and Zero wore identical looks of mixed joy and rage. 0010 and 0031 looked more murderous than ever.

"Celestia, is that you?" Julia shouted.

The figure slid down and began to slowly walk toward them. Zero's eyes grew to the size of hubcaps as the figure stepped into the light.

"Celeste, why the hell are you awake? It's one thing…" Julia said as Celeste stepped into the orange glow. Celeste's brown hair was held from her face by a white headband, and she wore only a pair of flared jeans and a pink t-shirt that said '1-Up'. On her feet were her backwards-laced shoes.

"It's fine!" Celeste said quietly. "I'm returning your favor."

"But you shouldn't be awake," Julia complained. "It's two separate things, being out for two days and being out for maybe twelve hours! Go, we'll take of these goons!"

At that point, everyone but 0010 and 0031 were aware of who it was.

"Here, at least let me take some of it away," Zero ordered. She tried to heal Celeste like she had Elyon. "YAI! HOLY ((MAJOR MAJOR CENSORED!))! What's going on?"

"It's them," Hana muttered. "They're preventing you from healing. That's not the worst part. They can…"

"I _KNOW_!" Zero exclaimed. "Celeste, you're going back inside. All junk aside, you look like crud."

"I don't care," Celeste answered. "Julia and Uncle Jet. You two fly and aim at 0010. I'll fire with you. Zero and Daddy, you two accelerate and hit 0031. Florence and Rene, you take 0031. The rest of you, have fun."

Julia smiled. "There's the Celestia we know and love!"

"Right!" Celeste said with a lot of effort. "And…get ready…go!"

0031 looked all around for the two things that hit. Zero and Joe were already on the ground, laughing to themselves. Jet and Julia were flying and firing at 0010, who was getting most of the bullets. Then something snapped into Zero's mind.

"EMMA SAYS STOP!" She bellowed. Everything stopped. Zero walked out onto the sea and used her ice to freeze about the size of a skating rink on it. "Emma says go!"

Celeste looked delightedly at the ice. A pair of ice skates appeared in front of her.

"If you can, and I mean _only_ if you can," Zero said. Celeste pulled off her shoes and put on the skates. Zero helped her out onto the ice.

Celeste was at home on the ice. She skated in a small circle, and then the circle grew larger. In her hand was a blaster, which was currently set on its blaster setting. 0010 noticed her after about five minutes of circling.

"Ah, so you're still alive. Maybe I can fix that." She sneered, aiming her volts at Celeste.

If Celeste hadn't been a fast skater, she would have met her death on that spot. She had instead skated in reverse, and 0010 cursed when she saw she had missed. Celeste smiled and continued, breathing heavily. 0010 aimed again, only to miss a second time.

Celeste was showing signs of wearing out with each stroke of her skates. Julia decided it was time to show 0010 justice. She took aim with her blaster on the magnum energy setting and fired. 0010 blocked it with a forcefield and fired with her lightning again at Celeste.

"You don't get the picture, do you?" Celeste asked, swerving to avoid the attack. 0010 didn't take it well and fired again. Celeste was having more and more trouble keeping up and narrowly missed being fried. She raised the blaster and fired at 0010. 0010 tired to fry the teenager once again.

Julia and Florence both saw what opportunity had reared its head. "FIRE ON BLASTER MODE RIGHT NOW!"

Eight blaster rays sliced through the rain and struck 0010. She unleashed a mighty cry and plunged into the icy waters. Celeste stopped skating and faced them, beaming. Her pink shirt was soaked with sweat and rain. 0031 was coming down fast now that her comrade was gone.

"Not again," Celeste moaned.

"Then come on!" Zero shouted, flying over and picking her up. "You're going to be going to sleep!"

"Not if it means leaving them here!" Celeste complained.

"You're hopeless, Celeste. Fine, have it your way." Zero replied, setting Celeste on a crate from where she could observe. "If you move again, I will _personally_ nail you into that bed so Mister Gilmore and Miss Francoise can get you better. Am I clear?"

"Yes, o mighty Zero," Celeste grumped. Zero gave a loud "humph" then went to join the others. Then Julia came into her view.

"What are you, my second mother?" Julia demanded as Zero picked her up and flew her off with Celeste. "Zero, you are the world's biggest party pooper, you know?"

"Oh well. Complain to Aunt Amanda for having Sophie get me down from the hanging plant when I was four." Zero answered blankly. "Don't forget I can make your lives torture or just plain and simple, depending on if you get up. Ja mata!"

"Ja mata ne!" Celeste glumly called back.

Midori was already flying and pelting attacks at 0031 by the time Zero got back. Zero sighed and melted the ice. She then made more ice into sharp daggers and sent them flying at 0031, who simply put up a forcefield. Zero cursed at this.

0031 spun in a complete circle and threw her arms out, looking very much like a diva or something of that sort. Her silver hair fluttered in the wind, which had suddenly picked up. Zero's hazel eyes grew wide with shock. Rain came to beat down like sharp pellets and soon became large chunks of hail. 0031 laughed and flew to attack the girls down below. Haruna and Haruka looked one another straight in the green eyes, which were filled with regrets of teasing their onee-chan. Ivan held up his hand just as 0031 was about to hit and a forcefield sent her flying backwards.

"You ruddy little mutt," She growled, voice low and dangerous. "Let's see you block THIS!" Flames danced around the crate where Celeste and Julia sat. Zero gave 0031 a look that could kill.

"You're about to eat your words," Zero hissed, zapping the gleeful 0031. 0031 dropped to the ground, only to pick herself back up again.

"Shoot," Sophia whispered.

Everyone misinterpreted her speech. In their desperate struggle, Julia and Celeste fired at 0031. Everyone else with a blaster or gun fired also at the cyborg, including Midori, Hana, Tamaki, Zero, Albert and Joe. As 0031 tried to rise again to command her storm, Julia and Celeste's blasters shot off her left leg. She fell to the ground.

"We can kill you the easy way," Zero said, holding one of her ice blades. "Or we can drag it out for as long as possible. Release my friends and get rid of this storm so you can have a good rest."

0031 feebly held up her arm and waved it. The flames died off around the crate. Celeste and Julia hopped down and ran over, receiving looks of mixed emotion from Zero. 0031 snapped her fingers and the rain was reduced to a drizzle again, and the winds returned to its earlier gust.

"Good night, Rachel. I hope your end is kind to you." Zero said to 0031.

"As I to you, Emma." 0031 muttered.

"Farewell," Zero said. 0031 laid her head back down and disappeared. "Celeste, I warned you!"

Celeste swore in Japanese rapidly. Zero shook her head and smiled.

"I won't nail you anywhere! And yes, I did climb into one of the hanging plants when I was four. Sophie had to get me back down." Zero said airily. She noticed Elyon, who was lying asleep in Hana's lap.

"Well, it's over now. Let's…" Celeste said, but was interrupted.

There was a car sliding down the slick dock toward them. It stopped about a yard from Hana, and Genevieve unfolded herself from the passenger side ((remember, it's the left side!)) and looked for her sisters. Kiyoshi and Michiko got out of the back seat, looking like they'd had the ride of a life getting over to the pier. Hideki was the last to get out from the driver's seat, and he looked positively harassed. Genevieve's long black hair was tied back into a high ponytail, save for maybe a few wisps in front, and gave her an almost deadly look.

"She nearly killed us getting here," Kiyoshi said.

"I never knew you could ice skate!" Julia said to Celeste.

"There's a lot of stuff you don't know I can do," Celeste said, smiling.

"Interesting…" Angelina muttered.

"Well," Celeste said, sitting down and resting her head on her hands. "We can all go back. It's almost time. We made…"

She never got to say the last part of her sentence because she fainted. And as her father bent to pick her up, he could've sworn there was a smile on her face.

"So we came here at one hundred and thirty miles an hour for nothing?" Hideki asked.

"I'm sorry!" Midori wailed.

"Don't be. It was actually kind of funny to watch Gene get pissed off and yell at me to go faster. Usually she tells you to slow down." Hideki said to Midori, who smiled.

"Now let's go back before…" Zero said. "Oh, forget it. Gene, Kei-kun, and some of you drive back. I'll go with Mister Joe back on the Dolphin. Anyone coming with us?"

"I'll go," Julia volunteered. "Besides, he's been trying to get me back in any case. Someone help me?"

Jet flew her up as the others got into the cars. Zero turned and looked one last time at the pier.

(I'm almost sad to leave it,) Zero said.

(Why? Aren't you happy? You're free!) Ivan told her.

(Yeah, that's fine…but…oh, I'll explain later.) Zero said. She tore her eyes away from the sea and jumped into the Dolphin. Well, they had toppled Black Ghost over. In days, the company would cease to exist and there would be a world without danger.

Zero smirked at herself. _Sheez, I wish it was a world without danger. There's still the worst part coming up. There's still recovery. There's still another world of unspoken problems we have to sort out. _

"Is something the matter?" Joe asked her. Zero smiled at him.

"Nah, just thinking what I'm going to do with all this free time," Zero responded. _What free time? There's not going to _be_ any free time come tomorrow. I'll have to answer all the questions they have. They'll all have to answer the questions we delayed. Like it or not, all of us have to. _((all italics are Zero's thoughts))

_I wish we could have solved this long ago. Maybe if we had, the pain from all the battles could have been healed sooner. But none of us was ready to open. None of us were willing to open our hearts. We had closed off to all but the teams we had joined, the teams that had seen us through our pains. It was they; they who watched each other change and grow. The others stood to the side and waited. _

_My life is screwed. I have no home, no _life_, to return to. Emma, the true Emma Jessica Hashe, is gone forever. She was gone last year, so why am I so depressed now? Oh, I feel like breaking down right here into tears. Rachel—0031—was the last of the people I knew from when it was only Emma. She was the one who comforted Emma when she cried, she was the one who wiped Emma's tears away. It wasn't me. I was created when the time came for the Megas Project to begin. That was only…my God, it was only four weeks ago._

_Ivan…my dear Ivan. He helped us. As we struggled through our problems, he stood and helped us through them. Ivan, if you're listening to this, I hope you know how important you are to me—no, not just me. You're important to us. Without you, we would have exhausted ourselves before we got the chance to really work. My dear, I think you knew me better than my parents did. You watched the girls grow up and knew their molds, but accepted me when I asked for attention. I can never, in my life or yours, thank you enough for all you've done for us. You are the one who knew all the secrets of all our lives. You knew what the war was about. You've been through it twice now. I feel like it's my fault for sending you into it again. Blame me. It's all my fault._

_0022 and 0023. Those two probably knew what was going to happen the whole time. They never left their father's side, even though he ordered them to be transformed. I wouldn't be able to feel emotion, had it been me. They stood there and took it. But one night, I saw 0023 crying. It was a single tear, yes, but it was proof. It was the proof that she was still human, the proof about who she really was. I never learned their real names; but then again, I'm a very confused girl. She looked at me and wiped the tear away and ran off to do something with her brother. 0022 was quiet and well minded, except for in battle. I remember hearing from Ivan how he made a costly mistake with Julia, and then made up for it by spraining Julia's wrist. 0022 could fight. I saw how he would go—start off slow and dumb, then pick up the speed and nail them. The two—brother and sister—they never learned to love. They always bickered. One was a bandit; the other was a loyal companion to his father. _

_The Megas Project—where to begin. I'll start with 001, or Stephanie. Stephanie was like a sister to me, but would never take Rachel's place. Stephanie was kidnapped at her training session in China; she was a world-class gymnast back there. Once she had arrived at headquarters, she was told she was attacked. After a while, she solved the problem for herself. We got along well, despite our age difference. That was why she saved me. Then there's 002, or Michelle. I never got very close to her. She was a really nice girl once you got to know her, but a formidable opponent in battle. 003, Neal, the silent Italian boy, came next. He was quiet, he was good at mechanics, and he had a real thing for 004. Ariana, the jumping bean, 004. She was a sweetheart with a talent in con art. We were on okay terms. Then came Rose, Five-kun, 005, and what ever else she went by. She was quiet like Neal and never really broke free, so I didn't know her. Ah, Kiara, my sunshine, my 006. Australians have a good tag because of hr spirit. She could flip-flop and you'd never tell, because of those darned pigtails. Sam-chan, I'll never forget you, 007. You were a skilled hacker, so skilled, even Midori would be caught in your eye. You and I became friends after a while, but never as close as 001. Mizuki. 008. You were _the one_ I thought would rebel. You were a rebel, no matter where you went. Mage was what you dubbed yourself. And that brings me to Hikaru Raven Mamora, 009. She was a young, free Japanese spirit. We were friends for a short time, but you were tortured for all the emotion. When Emma was banished by Black Ghost, I was truly then Zero. But it didn't make me happy. The only way for me to use the ability banish was to have Emma gone. The ability had been locked for when it was needed…I should explain more tomorrow._

_It was my fault that all of them died. They were nine souls, unwillingly taken, but had incredible gifts. Just like Ivan, like me, and like the members of the Cyborg Project. The last cyborg to ever be made by Black Ghost—that was 0010. She was a beast, that girl. Her name was Catherine. There was a fire in her soul, a fire that was set by Black Ghost. That fire was what killed her. The sparks she used were ones they gave her to kill me. I felt like it was my fault she had to leave, and when you think back to the core of the data, it _was_ my fault. I feel so terrible, having all this on me. Wishing it on any one of the girls would be a sin. They've been through so much in only three weeks. I can only hope that they forgive me for being such a problem._

"Why are you still back there? Come on, we're going back in!" Jet called down the hallway. Zero was standing with a blank look in her eyes. "Did you hear a word I said? We're going to leave you out here!"

Zero looked at him and smiled. "I'm coming, Mister Jet!"

_It's all ready begun._

-&-&-&-&-

AWWWWWWWWW! That last part took me ages to get right. I know, I know, I said there was no Ivan/Emma. Well, it's Zero, not Emma…but fine, it is basically Emma. I might put it in if enough people ask me to…

We're doing an expository essay on The Pearl in English! I'm happy about it! It has to be 2 ½ - 3 pages long and can be up to 1,500 words! People were looking at me like, "Whoa, what's she doing?" when I got all hyped up. The topics are: greed, stereotypes/roles of men and women, fate/destiny and animal imagery. I choose fate and destiny, and it was one of the challenge topics! Yay! It's fun!

Yes, next chapter **_will_** be **_quite _**dramatic. Writing Zero's thoughts made me cry, yes it did. Next chapter strips away the thin line between Zero, Emma and 0021. It will also tell why the Kazumi family is so…well, um…battle-style.

In other words, I have a name for my authoress fic! OH YEAH! It was going to be "Rise Over Run", but then I'm all "Wait, that sounds like…WHOA! IMAGES!". So I have a new title that I came up with during music. Well, not _invented_, but it came to me. No one is going to coax it out of me, and if you're in it, sorry, you have to wait with everyone else. I'll send an e-mail to the eight of you and attach the document once it's done, but the name spot will be BLANK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FEAR ME, FOR I AM CRAZY!

:In the Mood ((AN AWESOME JAZZ SONG!)) begins to play as Mika dances…who knows why…:


	13. Newton's Law

If I were to compare the girls to real people, Celeste and Sadie are almost twins. Save that Sadie's hair and eyes are a lighter shade and her ethnicity, but they're really similar. Julia looks a lot like Nina (red hair), but not much else. Nina's wicked on trombone! Okay, off topic. Liana reminds me a little of Florence, since they have the same color eyes and same hair color.

Well, I'm about to register for high school. I've been trying to decide, and now that I have, I'm not going to be taking Japanese. Anzu liked this. So, I'll be going to the school down the street and taking college courses in place of an elective. I'll get loaded with English ((hopefully honors/advanced)), Geometry, American History, Biology and all other requirements. Let's hope they've got a band…or I'll make sure they get one…:freaky Kagura Sohma eyes:

Mage stole the copyright info a few chapters back, so we still own everything! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :kisses 009:

-&-&-&-

The Cyborg Children

Chapter Thirteen: Newton's Law

-&-&-&-&-

"What you're saying is going in one ear and out the other with no chance of ever going back in, so why waste your time?" Julia said, moving her hand like someone's mouth. With the other hand, she turned the volume up on her stereo.

It was the next day after the final showdown, and Julia was sitting wide awake in the infirmary. Jet was trying to explain something to her, but every time he tried, she'd turn the volume up. Julia was like dealing with water: she'd stay for a minute and run through your fingers the next.

"Fine, I won't tell you!" Jet shouted back at Julia over the sounds of a piano. Julia's eyes looked at him up and down, then moved to the stereo and jacked the volume up even more.

"TURN IT DOWN! JULIA, IF YOU HAVE ANY HOPE OF GETTING OUT OF HERE SOON, THEN TURN THE VOLUME DOWN!" Ivan bellowed. Julia sighed and turned it down just a little.

"I'm bored to tears, just sitting down here! Dude, you could give me something interesting to do. Having my dad give me a lecture on who knows what isn't what I have in mind, pardon me." Julia said, now brushing her hair. "If you'd let me go, then maybe I wouldn't have torture you with my soundtracks!"

"Tough luck, you," Jet said.

"Ask Sophia if she can come down here! For all I care, get _anyone_ else down here to entertain me! You've stuck me down here, and…!" Julia exclaimed, waving her arms in anger. Zero popped out of nowhere to stand next to Jet.

"They wanted to know if she could come up, 'cause everything is _really _boring up in the house." Zero said, nodding toward Julia. Julia folded her arms in victory. Issac looked over at them.

"Go if you must," He said. Julia gave a loud cheer and turned her stereo off. Zero threw the sheet away and vanished in a periwinkle blur with Julia.

"It's so boring up here, I feel like just having a sham battle to have something to do," Rene said, dealing out another game of BS.

Up in the Kazumi residence, it had been dull. Well, save for maybe an hour before. Hana had turned the surround sound system on to play the song Ojamajo Carnival. It was a fast-moving song, with a ton of loud vocals in Japanese. Midori and her had been singing along the whole time, and turned it up so the house was shaking with the pulse of the song. Even Ivan and Julia had been able to hear it, way down in the Dolphin's infirmary.

"This isn't hard any more. Florence, you're lying about the Aces, I have all four…" Sophia muttered, sliding the pile of cards at Florence. Florence's eyes were glazed over and staring into empty space.

Zero appeared again. "I brought Julia with me!"

Rene threw her cards aside. "All right! How did you manage to come up?"

"Julia was torturing them with her Chicago soundtrack, so they let me bring her back here," Zero explained, setting Julia down. "Hey, maybe we can do something more interesting now instead of making me predict cards."

"Can you stand up?" Sophia asked. Zero shrugged and put a brace around Julia's leg. "So I guess you can! Would you like to…have a little competition?"

"Violin and first part for Canon in D, and we're set to go!" Julia cheered, accepting the challenge. Zero snapped her fingers and there were the requested items.

"Let's see what you can do," Zero said. Julia picked up the bow and began to play the main theme of the song.

Florence, Rene, Sophia and Angelina stood gaping as Julia's red hair fell beautifully in her face as her bow danced across the strings. None of them could imagine that a person like Julia was capable of attaining such…_grace_. Julia was grinning at them.

"This isn't so bad. When you get into sixteenth notes, it's evil." Julia said while she played on. "Hey, I fooled you all! None of you thought I'd be able to sit still for five seconds when we met! Proved ya wrong, didn't I?"

Sophia folded her arms. "You know what do get, I hope?"

Zero smiled and a flute appeared with the first part to In Times of Triumph. ((IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD IT, YOU MUST! IT IS WICKED!)) Julia looked ready to top whatever Sophia had coming.

Sophia whipped through a few scales in less than three minutes. Then she began to play off the sheet music. Julia marveled at her speed.

"Now, top that!" Sophia commanded after she had finished.

"I need one of my soundtracks, then we'll be set. Oh, wait. Clear the furniture away and get the surround sound on!" Julia cheered. Zero snapped her fingers again, and everything was set to go.

"I'll warn you once: your father is headed up here right now with the rest of them, including Celeste. So, why wait any longer? GET A MOVE ON IT!" Zero cried, turning up the volume on Julia's Chicago soundtrack. ((You know my songfic format style, so we'll be using that, the song is called I Can't do it Alone, but it isn't as much a songfic as merely fun))

**_My sister and I had an act that couldn't flop  
My sister and I were headed straight for the top  
My sister and I earned a thou a week at least  
Oh, sure!  
But my sister is now, unfortunately, deceased_**

Julia bowed her way into a cartwheel, then shot Sophia a glare. Sophia walked on her hands to where Julia was standing, then did a back handspring.

The sound of jaws dropping to the ground was heard over the roar of the speaking music.

Hana and Midori popped their heads in to see what music it was. They sat down on the couch, which was suspended about three feet from the ground. Sophia and Julia got ready for the next round of it.

**_Oh, I know it's sad, of course  
But a fact is still a fact  
And now all that remains  
Is the remains  
Of a perfect double act!_**

"Me working with you on an act is a riot!" Julia shouted, doing a flip off the couch, which had floated up to the point where Julia could almost kill herself from hitting the ceiling. She stuck it and jammed a finger into Sophia's chest. "Here comes round one in a few seconds!"

**_((spoken))  
Roxie, do you know you are exactly the same  
size as my sister? Oh, you would fit in her wardrobe  
perfectly. Look, why don't I just show you some of  
the act, huh? Watch this._**

Sophia took that as a cue to do her prelude. She lifted one leg up above her head, then let it fly backwards and turned it into a handspring with a twist.

"They're going to be here just in time for them to really start going at it," Zero muttered. There was the small click of a door from somewhere. Loud voices were shouting back and forth to one another. Now it wouldn't be long until the whole troupe was up and watching the two.

**_Now you have to imagine  
this with two people.  
It's swell with two people._**

"Morning, everyone!" Liana shouted. Her brown eyes were sparkling with energy as she flung the door open. Then she saw what was going on.

Julia had just nailed three back handsprings and was going on doing a wicked ballet/karate move. Sophia was across the room, waiting for her turn. Julia raised her arms and Sophia dove into the splits, then turned them into a series of somersaults. The last somersault turned into a full-on flip, ending with Sophia standing in front of Julia.

The door slammed shut, music thumping the entire house with its pulse.

**_First I'd...(drums!)  
Then she'd...(saxophone!)  
Then we'd...(together!)  
But I can't do it alone!  
Then she'd...  
Then I'd...  
Then we'...  
But I can't do it alone!_**

Zero tore the walls down with a wave of her hand. Julia ran for a few seconds, whimpering in pain, but none the less running. After she had run for half a minute out into the rain, she turned it around and did a series of cartwheels and ended with a twist, completed perfectly.

Sophia did a long series of varying handsprings, then dove again into a somersault. She rolled into a backward somersault and flipped up. Jaws had long since busted down to the trenches of the ocean after only Julia's performance.

The two whirled together in a martial arts-like pose. After a second, they whirled away again, only to be standing with the other's moves in mind.

The door flew open again.

**_She'd say,"What's your sister like?"  
I'd say, "Men,"  
Yuk, Yuk, yuk  
She'd say, "you're the cat's meow"  
Then we'd wow the crowd again  
When she'd go...  
I'd go...  
We'd go..._**

"YOU!" Madison screeched, trying to wrestle Julia into her control. Julia sprang backward with a few well-aimed jumps.

"If it was like this," Celeste said sleepily, for she had woken up a few minutes before, "I would have stayed awake to watch! KEEP IT UP! I'LL JOIN YA!"

Celeste tried to kick her way out of Jet's arms, but was unsuccessful. Madison screamed as Sophia laughed and sided with Julia. Zero laughed. The ceiling vanished. Midori lit her rockets and set off a few fireworks from her pockets.

**_And then those ding-dong daddies started to roar  
Whistled, stomped and stamped on the floor  
Yelling, screaming, begging for more._**

Madison had discovered Julia's cheerleading baton and was using it to try and trip Julia.

The men sat down on the sidelines to watch the rather interesting form of entertainment being provided by the females. Zero zoomed ((and you thought I was done with alliteration!)) up into the damp sky and twirled. The rain seemed to come toward her as she gained speed. And then…

The rain condensed into one cloud and began to storm on Zero. Zero laughed at it and raised one arm, and it vanished. Clouds broke across the heavens again, but there was no longer rain. Julia booed as Madison used the furniture as steps to try and head Julia off.

Sophia jumped in front of Julia, allowing Madison to seize the girl. Julia kicked and twirled and did everything in her meager power. Madison squealed gleefully in her delight.

Midori lit a green firecracker and zoomed away as it exploded.

**_((spoken))  
And we'd say, "O.K. fellas, keep your socks up.  
you ain't seen nothin' yet!"_**

Celeste had settled into a comfortable position on the couch. Her blue-green eyes could not take it all in fast enough.

So instead of doing anything to try and break free this time, Julia sat in her mother's arms patiently. Madison was surprised by the change and moved her arms. Julia bolted and ran after Sophia into the rain.

"This is getting far to boring to not be able to spice things up," Zero chuckled, waving her hands happily. Just as Julia landed from a cartwheel, a mound earth rose from underneath her. She screamed in surprise, but laughed as the mound rose.

Sophia let out an equally loud scream as the ground beneath her feet jumped in various places. Midori laughed and looked down at Hana and Hana gave her sister a thumbs-up. Midori laughed and lit five more firecrackers.

Julia fastforwarded the song a little to get to the best part.

**_And then those two-bit Johnnies did it up brown  
To cheer the best attraction in town  
They nearly tore the balcony down_**

Julia ran from her mother, though she was limping now. Madison was wearing out, also, but it wasn't as clear as it was on Julia.

Julia ran for a mound and dug her fingers into the top and jumped up. She was now standing there, belting out the words to the song as it boomed along.

Sophia re-entered the open living room and dove off the couch in a flip. She landed square in the center of the couch pillow next to where her father was sitting. Britain yanked on her ankle and she screamed and kicked his head with her bare foot.

"Nice try, but sorry," Sophia said, dashing back out onto the rough.

**_And we'd say. "O.K. fellas, O.K.,  
we're goin' home, but here's a few more partin' shots!"  
And this... this we did in perfect unison._**

Julia went into a handstand on her mound of earth, gasping in pain. She let her legs fall apart, so she formed a human T. Sophia was now easily nailing handsprings, and Madison was watching blankly from the playing field.

Everyone else was in the excavated living room, watching two crazed females battle for no real reason. Celeste was entranced by it; she was at the edge of her seat with excitement.

Just as Sophia was about swing herself over Julia in one bound, Julia lowered herself. Sophia's eyes widened as she collided with Julia's right leg, and it was no soft blow.

**_Now, you've seen me goin' through it  
It may seem there's nothin' to it  
But I simply cannot do it  
Alone!_**

Celeste stood and almost immediately fell back down with excitement. Julia was sitting out with Sophia, wailing. Sophia was trying to apologize, but it wasn't really working.

Zero sighed and made the two zoom back inside and shut the living room off again.

"How in heck's name, Julia, did you manage to do that?" Celeste asked. Julia looked at her with a look like 'what planet have you been on?'

"I've learned to deal with pain," Julia explained. "It's just something you learn to deal with after your seventh fall down the stairs, thirteenth trip in the mud, and all your bruises from Martial Arts."

The song ended.

Julia's green eyes were glittering with their forbidden ecstasy. "Hey Zero, could you make rain again? Maybe since my mom let me use a projectile weapon, she'll let me play in the rain now!"

"I doubt that would happen in any case. Do you play any wind instrument? Our fight isn't over yet." Sophia said, standing.

"I can sing, can you?" Julia said. Sophia nodded.

"You're on."

"No, it's not on. They dragged me out of bed to come up here for some good reason. So, save your singing contest for later. Hell, I'll join ya. Gentlemen, get it over with. Not next year, this one." Celeste said. She sat perfectly straight up, her hair tucked behind her ears neatly.

"I shouldn't be doing this," Zero said sourly. "They elected me last night. Just to let you know, cowards, they'd like it better if they heard it out of you. But oh well. On with our tale.

"None of us volunteered to be like this. We were kidnapped off the streets because the organization Black Ghost was trying to develop a new weapon. You can see the different war-inspiring traits in us: acceleration, ice, fire, transformation, and flight. But none of the original nine cyborgs was happy with it. They rebelled. Black Ghost was ticked off, as you can imagine. He sent 0010 after them, and at that point they were here."

"Shortly after that, we needed the first reconstruction." Haruka said, entering. "Like hell I don't know. 0011 came, which was the whole reason we needed to rebuild. My grandfather, your Professor Kazumi, was kidnapped by Black Ghost. As Tama has told you, he's the leading biochemistry researcher in the world. 0012 was a house. 0013 was an invisible monster that made Tokyo the way it is today."

"And after that, Black Ghost gave up on cyborgs for a while. It wasn't until Keiko Kazumi…ahem, had a little fun…with and employee of Black Ghost. The man took the baby away with him when Keiko told him about it. Guess what, those heartless fools at Black Ghost raised the child as a hacker, then when she was old enough, they changed her into cyborg project number 0014.

"The same man went back and had a little more fun. Thus is how project 0017 came into being. Oh, what about 0015 and 0016? Those two fell apart upon waking. 0018 and 0019 were sent to destroy 0017 and 0014, or at least kill them and bring them back. 0014 was skilled enough to break into their coding and implode them. Sure, she was only four, but heck, she could fight.

"So back to you, the seven children. You seven were unexpected by everyone. All your parents knew about all of you all along. But, then, why couldn't you meet? Simple. You were all being tracked by Black Ghost. They hadn't given up hope. Alone, you were hardly needle points in a sea. Together, you'd be like an island. So once your parents were kidnapped, you all didn't know how to react to meeting six new people from all over the place.

"But you managed. When I met you as Emma, you all seemed to know each other for forever and a day. You argued like sisters. You fought like sisters. You watched one another like sisters. And Ivan…."

Zero paused. Her eyes were shining oddly, and she was pink. "Then it was the Megas Project. You dealt them down, didn't you?"

"You're rushing things," Celeste said. "But no, skip ahead, we know about them."

"When I used synthesize and banish, it meant that Emma no longer existed. When they programmed that ability into me, they locked it until I died. Yes, that's right. Until I died.

"Emma is gone forever. Sure, if I felt like it, I could morph and take her shape. The thing is, I'm _not _Emma. However much you want me to be, I can never go back to who I was a year ago. None of us can live our normal lives again. The Kazumi family gave it up when they accepted Midori. You seven gave up being normal when you called your grandfather. No, scratch that. You gave it up when you were born. Hikaru Raven Mamora bet away her life on a card game. No one knew what he or she was getting into when they took on the task ahead. Look where we are now, wishing it could go back to normal.

"This is normal from now on."

"So you're telling me that my cousin is dead," Sophia said.

"So are your aunts and uncles." Zero answered. "That's right. Black Ghost killed my parents after they turned me into…this non-Emma. They killed them after Sophie took me away."

"Her name…Raven of Light…you say she bet her life away on a card game?" Celeste asked. Zero nodded.

"Oh, I have nothing to hide any more. 0021 was Emma. 000 or Zero, is who I am. No one is ever going to accept me," Zero said, trembling.

"I know how to crack the truth out of you," Sophia said. "You used to love it. Well, Zero, truth or dare?"

Zero looked Sophia in the mischievous black-blue eyes. "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss the person you love."

Zero became magenta. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"Why not you first?"

Those black-blue eyes twinkled. "That would be no fun. Come on, then you can dare someone else."

_I've wanted it for so long…I get my prize, and I don't want it! What's wrong with me? I can't remember feeling like this…it's crazy…it feels like I'm on fire…_

Zero stood from her seat and walked toward Ivan. He looked at her. _Sophia, you're gonna pay for making me do this in front of everyone, yes you are. _

Ivan stood up. Zero loosened her ondangoes. Her hair fell down to her waist, and she smiled, and flushed deeper.

"Is something wrong?" Ivan asked her.

Zero felt his face with her fingers. "You're wrong."

And she kissed him, smack dab on the lips.

There wasn't a single person in the room who was shocked out of their mind.

Zero pulled herself away, a shade of magenta that could give a crayon a run for its money. Ivan was a delicate shade of pink. Zero sat down on the coffee table, shaking her head.

"I should get back to my explanation. In short, we're all sorry for hiding this from you for so long." Zero said finally.

Celeste beamed at her. "Why should you be sorry, any of you? If you _had _told us, we never would have gotten to meet one another like this. We'd probably all be gone by this time, too. I'm sorry for getting so mad."

"I am too," Julia apologized. "I shouldn't have rattled you down like that. But now, can't we just get Celeste's question answered: who are we?"

"We all know that," Florence answered her, smiling. "We're whoever we chose to be. We're still ourselves. We've been the same people our entire lives. Sure, we can't go back to the past now, this is what we chose."

"It's owari! This was our destiny, we could have never denied it!" Celeste exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "Imagine if we knew beforehand: we would have sat around and acted like no one was ever going to come after us. We would have been bored by one another. It would be so dull. But look now! We're like shoujo heroines!"

And they went back and forth, answering their own questions.

(Were you serious when you did that?) Ivan asked Zero.

(Of course. I don't know what to do with myself now. I can't go back to school. I can't go anywhere.) Zero replied.

(Come with me.)

(Are you high or something?)

(Are _you_?)

(N…no. But then…no way, you're telling me that…?)

(Ditto your feelings.)

(That sounded like Celeste.)

(But you still love me, don't you?)

(Don't _you_?)

Ivan flushed and Zero giggled at him. "You're so cute when you do that!"

They kissed again.

"So, is it safe to ask when you're going to have a date?" Julia asked. Zero went pink.

"Is it safe to ask if you're sorry?" Zero asked.

"Well, of course we are!" Liana exclaimed. "We only asked for our questions answered, and that we got. We found out the truth. It's a world without danger."

Zero did a double take. "Are you mental or something?"

"No, I just love seeing you do that." Liana replied, standing and waltzing off to the kitchen in a ditzy-drunken fashion.

Elyon walked in in her place. "You're going to hate what I'm about to tell you."

Zero's hazel eyes contracted. "What is it?"

"We all knew all along who you all were."

"WHAT?"

"Matter of fact, it was Mi-chan who told us. Don't feel bad, we were shocked out of minds when we heard ourselves."

"But why…or for that matter…when did she tell you?"

"Once 0018 and 0019 attacked us, and Hana couldn't talk yet. If you'll remember, Mi-chan's a year older than Na-chan. Gene was only twenty, and I was…damn, I was only eleven when that happened. Gene and Kei-kun made her tell her story about ten times over before they started believing."

"So they didn't patrol your house?"

"Why should they? Once Na-chan showed up, they screened us. But we haven't seen anything wrong with Michi, so I think they've left for good. As a matter of fact, did you ever beat 0031 and 0010?"

"In the end, yes."

Elyon's dark eyes gazed downward. "I should have told you earlier, but I couldn't. 0010 was one of my friends. Her name was Catherine. Her father was American. She moved here when I was four, and we practically grew up together. It wasn't until she was fifteen that I was able to see something was wrong. When she turned seventeen, she went missing."

Zero gasped and her own hazel eyes snapped into realization. "That was when the Megas Project was initiated."

Elyon nodded. "The rest of you must be very confused by all this." She smiled, letting a braid flop into her face. "Looking at your faces is hilarious. Come now; let's go see if Liana has finished off the groceries already. I wouldn't doubt it,"

-&-&-&-

"You guys are so awesome, thank you so much for letting us stay!" Celeste shouted back to the Kazumi family. The entire family was standing outside, watching the rest of the small army depart. Midori and Angelina had swapped e-mails; everyone had traded something with one of the Kazumi grandchildren. Elyon waved, but couldn't outdo Midori, who had set up a firework display to spell out "BYENESS!" Genevieve was smiling and crying as they climbed into the Dolphin.

Rene, Angelina and Julia were the last to go down, and Julia waved one last time before the hatch closed and they were in the control room.

It was the next morning, and everyone had decided it was time to get back home. The girls were scared about school, for they had missed a month of it. It was Joe who came up with the plan: everyone would call to the Shimamura residence and get an explanation that they had been visiting. Celeste would call Julia and get details from there.

"We're going to be in China in roughly five hours," Liana said. "You know something, I never thought I'd be able to stand you."

"Heh, me neither," Julia said, smiling and rubbing the back of her head. "And now, here we are, about to break up."

"Give me your phone numbers and e-mails and we'll stay in contact. But it will never be as good as talking face to face," Liana said, grabbing a piece of paper. The girls wrote down their information.

"I know!" Julia exclaimed. "I'll have a Christmas party! December twenty-second, be there or I'll drag you!"

"Count me in!" Celeste cheered, slapping Julia a high-five.

Hours were passing, and the entire time, Liana was gathering her clothes and packing them up. After she had, she sat down with the others to a BS tournament. Zero and Ivan were watching from one of the couches, holding hands and kissing every so often.

"Okay, Liana, guide us to your house," Rene said. Liana sat down at the controls and guided the Dolphin into her backyard. Tears were streaming down her face as she stood up. Celeste was crying too, as well as Julia and Florence.

"I'm gonna miss you," Julia said into Liana's shoulder as they cried. Liana handed her an e-mail address and phone number. "I'll call you. I'll stay in contact. Come to my party."

Liana stood up on top of the Dolphin, looking down onto her house. She had never been more upset to see it. Zero jumped down with her luggage and caught Liana as she jumped down.

"Emma, Zero, whatever you want to be called, I'll miss you like hell. Come visit some time, I'll cook you anything." Liana cried into Zero's shoulder. Zero cried as Liana lifted her head and went around to the front. Chang and his wife got off and followed their daughter.

Everyone was waving as the Dolphin lifted up into the sky. Liana waved like all heck after her friends until they were a speck in the sky, then turned and went inside.

"Sophia, Uncle Britain, we'll be in England in six hours." Rene said. "Zero, will you…"

Rene turned red at the scene. Ivan and Zero were holding each other in a tight embrace, kissing so tightly it looked like they were sucking life from one another. Sophia laughed, and only then did the teenagers break apart.

"Zero, will you be going with Sophia?" Rene asked again.

"I dunno…Ivan, where are you gonna go?" Zero said.

"With you." Ivan replied.

"Okay, we'll go with Sophia," Zero answered Rene. "Uncle Britain, is that okay?"

"It's fine!" Sophia returned, hugging her cousins.

And when Sophia got off at her house, she was crying harder than Liana had been. Julia even tried to sneak off with her, but got back on board after Sophia ran around front, over the gate, and waved. Zero and Ivan held hands and waved, then kissed before entering the house.

"I'm next," Rene said quietly. "There's four hours at top speed and I'll be gone."

Angelina was piloting the whole time, but every so often she'd pull up her Internet Explorer and search for traces of Black Ghost. There was nothing left. There was no sign anywhere she looked of and organization called Black Ghost. Rene gathered her possessions and shoved them into her suitcases, then flopped back on the couch and watched Celeste and Julia have a singing contest.

And before they knew it, they were in Africa. Rene Josephine Meraga, before she had called her grandfather, would have loved nothing but to stay in her home her entire life, but now, she would have cared less about going back.

"Rene…" Celeste began, hugging Rene and seeing her out of the Dolphin with her suitcases. "Call me s-s-s-oooooon, okay?"

And Celeste was bawling now, waving farewell to Rene from the control room with Julia, Angelina and Florence left.

"Florence, we're heading back to Germany. It'll be about five hours." Julia said. It was getting more and more quiet as the Dolphin began to empty out.

"None of us got to our important matters," Florence mentioned, smiling. "I missed my recital. And you know what? I don't care. I could care less, really. I'll go back to playing piano, but it'll be another couple of months before the next recital date."

"Yeah, I missed my black belt test," Julia added. "But, I kicked can anyway! You give up something you love for something else,"

"You're right," Celeste said. "It's going to be strange being back at my house. There's not going to be any more all-night gigs, no more infirmary, no more…loud noise…"

The four girls sat in the living room, shooting back what they were going to miss and what they weren't.

"The best part is," Angelina said at last, "We won't have to worry about any more of those crazy goons like 0023 and 0022 coming after us. That's the very best thing."

Julia got a good laugh out of that.

Time evaporated as they reached Germany. Florence grew quiet, then suddenly exploded into tears all over Angelina's shirt.

"I-I-I-t-t-t-t-t won't b-b-b-b-b-b-e-e-e the same!" She wailed, climbing out of the Dolphin for the last time. "I love you all! Please, stay in contact!"

Angelina hugged her. "We all will. Why shouldn't we?"

Florence smiled a little. She gave Angelina one final hug before standing on her porch and Angelina climbed back into the Dolphin. The three from inside waved good-bye to Florence, and all of them were crying.

"It's going to be me, then Julia, then Celeste will head back home." Angelina noted, setting the controls. "Roughly seven hours until we reach Colorado, and from there it'll be an hour until you get to California."

Angelina and Julia got their clothes and various other articles together into their bags. It was sad to watch them go about, tears in their eyes, packing away their memories of the last four weeks. Celeste watched as Jet flew about with Julia in his arms to get her clothes, and started crying.

"Hey Celeste, what are you crying over?" Joe asked his daughter. She looked up at him with her mother's eyes.

"Have you ever had that feeling where it feels like your life it being picked away, piece by piece?" Celeste asked, crying her eyes out into her father's shirt. He lifted her into his lap.

"No, not in the way you have," Joe told Celeste. "But do you know what?"

Celeste shook her head no.

"You'll see them again."

"That isn't helping me very much."

"How about: you'll be seeing them at Julia's Christmas party in under a month?"

"Start trying harder, daddy."

Joe sighed. "Didn't you forecast this a while back in the stars?"

Celeste clasped her hands together. "That's right! There's supposed to be a tragic loss, but then that same thing will return in unexpected ways! Daddy, how did you know?"

Joe picked up Celeste and twirled her around. "You told us!"

Celeste laughed and wiped away her tears. "Thank you so much!"

He kissed her forehead. "Nothing at all, my princess,"

When they reached Angelina's house, Julia was crying so badly, it seemed like she was a fountain. Her green eyes were faded, and her cheeks were red from crying.

"Angelina…" Celeste said, pressing her e-mail into Angelina's hand. "Let's have a webcam chat some time. I'll hear from you soon!"

Celeste waved from the control room, crying but smiling. Julia was crying into Jet's already soaked shirt. Celeste walked over to Julia and patted her head.

"What?" Julia barked, her voice hoarse. "Celestia, I'm going to miss you like all hell. Promise you can come?"

"Well, duh!" Celeste replied, hugging Julia. Julia grinned weakly.

"I'll be the last one to leave," Julia noted. "But we have a few weeks to look forward to, don't we now?"

The two were hugging one another in a vice-like grip, crying together. Four weeks ago, these two girls would have no sooner hugged than cried together. And there they were, clinging to one another like it was the end of the world.

And guess what?

IT WAS!

Just kidding.

Jet picked Julia up as the Dolphin landed in their backyard. Celeste helped them inside before giving Julia one last hug.

"Here. Take this CD." Julia choked out, handing Celeste her Chicago soundtrack. Celeste accepted and kissed Julia's ear.

"Love ya!" Celeste cried from the top of the Dolphin, waving one last time to Julia, who was waving too.

"Love you too!" Julia shouted back, jumping from her from her father's arms and waving so hard, it looked like her arm would fall off. Eventually, she was dragged inside and the Dolphin was gone off, back to Japan.

"I'm so happy and so sad at the same time," Celeste said. "When we get back, can I go to sleep?"

"Of course you can." Francoise replied, stroking her daughter's brown hair. "There's no need for you to ask, you're not out hunting any longer."

"It's a world without danger," Celeste said, then began to nod off. "And it wasn't just because of me. That, like Angelina said, is the absolute best part of the entire trip."

_Night, everyone._

-&-&-&-&-

:begins to cry: THAT WAS SO SAD! I feel like Celeste: happy and sad. Happy that this is almost the end of my longest story and sad for the same reason. Thank you so much for staying with us through this!

Next chapter will be the epilogue, thanks and after that, Sadie and I will host our ultra-special Question and Answer session. You can enter seven questions in your review and demand I answer them! All questions are taken! HURRY HURRY!

:Mika plays her Chicago Soundtrack…and plays All That Jazz….because she loves jazz:


	14. Christmas

The Cyborg Children

Epilogue: Christmas

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"JULIA, THE DOOR!" Jet shouted over Julia's music. Julia danced to the door of her house, and opened it wide.

It was December 22. Julia had made a full recovery, thanks to Zero in a large part. Now, Julia was wearing a female Santa outfit that had a sleeveless red shirt with white fur trim underneath a red jacket with white fur buttons and trim, red gloves with the same trim, a fur-trimmed red knee-length skirt, a pair of short red boots with white trim, and a Santa/jester hat that had two sides that stretched down to her waist and ended with white puff balls. Julia flung the door open to let her music pour out. Her red hair flew back in a breeze, for it now reached just past her chest. Then Celeste noticed: there was a faint red scar running down the left side of Julia's face, and Julia was putting more pressure on her left leg.

"CELESTE!" Julia screeched, hugging Celeste. Celeste was wearing a pair of jeans and her "1-Up" shirt, and an indigo jacket over it.

"You're looking better!" Celeste exclaimed.

Celeste had gotten over her shock after about a week, and was now full with energy. Issac stood outside with her on Julia's front porch, smiling like nothing had ever been wrong with any of them. Julia invited Joe, Francoise, Ivan, Zero, Celeste and Issac indoors.

It smelled wonderful inside, to say the very least. Liana came rushing out of the kitchen; her long hair tied up into a ponytail, for she was the one making the brilliant odors.

"Celeste! Zero! Grandpa!" Liana shouted, hugging them all in turn. "Oops, I'd better get back to the kitchen if you don't want burnt English toffee!"

As soon as she realized this, she scuttled back to the kitchen and turned the volume up on a stereo, then sang along with it. To Celeste's surprise, it was in English. It was a song called Accidentally in Love, and she knew it because Julia had sent it to everyone (including Zero and Ivan) in a huge IM conversation about two weeks ago.

"It was my CD to begin with!" Julia exclaimed happily, then pranced off to the living room. Celeste drew her arms in close, then exploded with all of her built-up energy from the ride over. She dashed after Julia, leaving the others in the foyer of Julia's home.

When Celeste entered the living room, she nearly jumped out of her skin. The song was now roaring over all other noise in the house, and _almost _thumping it as hard as Hana and Midori had done with Ojamajo Carnival. The redhead was currently the loudest one that was belting out the lyrics, Liana in a close second with Zero on her tail.

"These lines of lightning mean we're never alone, Never alone, no, no!" Eight females and one male sang. And suddenly, there was a loud scream of a Mandarin curse from the kitchen.

"The stove, no problem!" Liana called a second after. The song continued on, and as it ended, Liana switched the CD from the control in the kitchen. She turned the volume down a few pegs, to the adult's pleasure.

"Celeste! When did you get here?" Angelina asked from her position on the couch. "We've been holding out for everything because of you!"

Florence came out of the hallway and dragged Celeste into a waltz. Celeste was taken by surprise and didn't know how to react, and made everyone laugh.

"You know that yesterday was Liana's thirteenth birthday?" Florence asked, sitting down at the keyboard.

"Well then, let's surprise her!" Julia cheered, throwing her arms up and bounding off to the kitchen. A loud shriek of surprise came a few seconds later with a loud cry of "HOW'D YA FIGURE IT OUT?"

"It seems someone never changes, huh?" Rene asked, laughing merrily. "It's so great to be together again. I probably wouldn't care where we held this!"

Celeste threw her coat off and danced around to the music. "None of us are ever going to change. I mean that in a good way! You'll always have your personality as long as you live. It's so wonderful to see how this all turned out. The end of our adventure is over, but the best of times are still headed out way."

"Yeah, like having SWEETS!" Julia shouted, bumping her way through the hall and carrying trays of Liana's cooking with her. Liana was close behind, singing loudly along with the music.

As soon as Liana entered, the girls let out a resounding cheer of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIANA!" Liana grabbed Sophia into a tight squeeze and laughed.

"Which one will get sugar high first, I wonder?" Zero asked Ivan, poking him. He turned and looked her in the hazel eyes.

"Is it going to be Julia?" Ivan asked. Zero laughed at his comment. She poked him some more and he poked right back at her.

"How am I supposed to know? Maybe it'll be you and you'll finally quit being such a triangle." Zero said, making a triangular shape in the air.

"You can almost anticipate Midori and Hana jumping in right about now," Ivan replied to her, softly yanking one of her ondangoes. She replied my poking him harder.

"Triangle." She said, kissing him.

The only thing that broke the two apart was a jumping attack from behind from Julia, who was laughing merrily. She giggled and leapt away, still laughing like a maniac.

"It's all of us, especially you, sweetheart," Zero said, laughing at him and tracing the bones in his face.

Sophia emerged from behind Julia and jumped onto Zero's back. Zero ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, then dropped forward and sent Sophia flying.

"…No one ever changes around here, do they?" Rene asked. Her icy eyes had a beautiful twinkle to them. "HEY JULIA, SOPHIA! COME IN HERE! WE'RE TAKING A GROUP PICTURE!"

Two minutes later, Julia came in with Sophia. Ivan held Florence, Angelina, Rene, Celeste, Liana, Julia and Sophia's digital cameras. The seven girls were sitting still on the couch, or at least Julia, Celeste and Florence were. Celeste sat with her legs scrunched up, and Julia and Florence had one leg extended and the other leg bent up to their chests. Liana, Sophia, Angelina and Rene were standing behind the couch. Zero had chosen to stay out of the picture.

The seven girls smiled. Ivan began to take pictures.

Once they were done, the phone rang…

"Hello, you've reached the Link house. No one either wants to take your call or we're too busy to answer. Call back some other time, and don't forget to leave your message, name and phone number after the beep! Thanks!" Julia's recorded voice sang.

There was no caller. Julia laughed.

"If we hadn't picked up the phone, would it have never happened?" Julia asked.

Angelina thought for a moment. "Nah, I don't think we could have avoided it."

"Previews are now available, if you want to see," Ivan said from the computer. Six girls ran out, leaving Sophia behind.

Sophia looked out the window through her blue-black eyes. She laughed.

"It's always there. They'll always be with us, in our hearts. This will never end as long as we're alive, and even when we're dead. That is the true beauty of this whole adventure. Thank you for starting this, Black Ghost. Thanks for fifteen years of memory to discover on our own. Thanks for the Megas Project. Thank you so much for everyone I met because of you. Even the phone call. Thanks for Celeste, for Julia, Liana, Florence, Rene, Zero, Ivan, Angelina, The Kazumis, and everyone. The phone call was because of you, and I'll always be thankful for that one little call that I didn't even understand. Each and every person I met along the way, you'll always be in my heart."

She turned, and her blond hair swished as she stopped in the doorway.

"Thank you. Thank you for us, the cyborg children."

**THE CYBORG CHILDREN**

**THE END**

**-&-&-&-&-&-**

OH. MY. GOD. IT'S OVER! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S TRUE!

Thank you so much for staying with me for almost half a year's worth of work! And now, for my personal thank you's…

**Thank Yous!**

**Sadie –** Because you called me, IM ed me, e-mailed me and did everything for me. You are the world's most awesome alter ego and friend, and this would not have happened without you. You make an awesome beta and you're such a great authoress-keep it up for me:Sadie comes out and takes a trophy with the girls on it, smiles, then leaves:

**Beta Boy Joe – **You read it in English and Social Studies. You played speed with me. You are the best beta I've ever had. Thanks so much, and I'll keep up with all the one-shots. Joe, this would have never been what it was without you:Joe gets his trophy:

**Julia – **My cheerleader! You cheered me on since I asked if I could use your name and read the binder ring. You came online when you had time and read the stories. Thank you so much, Julia-chan! I can never thank you enough. :Julia walks out, blushes, gets a trophy, waves, leaves:

**Rose ( username: sexy hot beast ) – **Thanks to you, 005, 006, and Emma/Zero were possible. You joined because of me. You are another one of the people that kept me going, even though you said you didn't like it after chapter two. Without you smiling and saying good job like Julia, nope, I wouldn't be here. :Rose gets her trophy:

**Lilanimefan1 and Kacie (aka Gothic) – **The lyrics to Holding Out for a Hero! Yay! You two made chapter nine possible for me! Thanks for keepin' with me:they get trophies:

**Any and all flamers, readers, and reviewers –** You guys kept me on my toes, you made it seem worthwhile to be here. We would have never gotten past chapter five without you guys keeping me working. Thanks a million – it means the world to me, you have no idea. :they get trophies:

There are so many people I forgot to mention in here. I'm sorry if I forgot to write you out, but I still love ya:collects all her other trophies and hands them out: If you go to school with me, you've probably seen me carrying the printed version! A _lot _of people asked to read it even though they had no clue what I was talking about when I said fanfiction. Stupid people.

Thank you once again for bearing with me. It has truly been a pleasure to write this fic. I really am grateful for all of you who cheered me on all the way through. Without you, I would have never gone anywhere.

There may or may not be a chapter with all the profiles and questions next chapter, I'll see how bad I am on time.

Thank you from the very bottom of my heart. You saw me out to owari. Arigatou a billion times over!

This has been Mikage Shirizawa and Sadie Sammut. ((see profile page for full disclaimer))


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